


Re-Write the Stars

by Sapphire37



Series: Stars and the Moon [2]
Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Romance, F/M, Not Canon Compliant, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:20:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29164854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphire37/pseuds/Sapphire37
Summary: “If we’d met somewhere else . . . anywhere else. At a club in New York, or in an airport, or at a party. If you hadn’t been our waitress that night, and I hadn’t been sitting next to Liam, do you think all of this . . . do you think it could’ve been different . . . between us?”-Drake WalkerThis is best read after or alongside my original, canon compliant work "Written in the Stars." In this version, all of the characters stay consistent between the two works and it is still told through Riley and Drake's alternating POVs, but it's a sliding doors/'what if' version of events. Instead of meeting in the bar, Riley and Drake meet the night before in a club. Riley and Cassie are on opposite shifts, making Cassie the waitress in the bar the night of the bachelor party. So while Riley remains my MC, Cassie ends up filling the role of TRR main character. (Thus the extremely confusing relationship tags, since they are both sort of main characters and sort of original characters.)
Relationships: Drake Walker & Main Character (The Royal Romance), Drake Walker/Main Character (The Royal Romance), Drake Walker/Original Character(s), Liam Rys & Original Character(s), Liam/Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont & Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont/Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont/Original Character(s)
Series: Stars and the Moon [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140800
Comments: 66
Kudos: 15





	1. If We'd Met Somewhere Else

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of hate myself right now for deciding to write this and not having the patience to finish something before starting something else. As much as I love writing "Written in the Stars," the idea for this arrived in my brain whole and demanded to be written. And what is fanfiction for if not giving an outlet to all the crazy "what-ifs" your brain starts to come up with. So . . . we'll see how this goes.
> 
> And for clarity: Riley is still Riley Brooks from my Written in the Stars-verse, so I still see her as MC and half of this fic is told from her POV. However, as you will see pretty soon, she is NOT the waitress in the bar in New York that the guys meet at Liam's bachelor party, which makes her . . . not MC anymore.
> 
> Titles: Yes, there is obviously a theme around stars going on here. But the other part of that theme is that the titles of both works and the series as a whole are all titles of songs from musicals . . . because I'm a nerd about musical theatre. If you actually look at the lyrics, Written in the Stars (Aida) and Re-Write the Stars (The Greatest Showman), they're both duets in which one of the characters pushes away their would-be lover due to a perceived belief that they can't or shouldn't be together, which is annoyingly, the Riley & Drake story for the first two books. But Stars and the Moon starts this way and I also think it fits (just don't go read the rest of the lyrics, they definitely do not!):
> 
> I met a man without a dollar to his name  
> Who had no traits of any value but his smile  
> I met a man who had no yearn or claim to fame  
> Who was content to let life pass him for a while  
> And I was sure that all I ever wanted  
> Was a life like the movie stars led  
> But he kissed me right here  
> And he said:
> 
> "I'll give you stars and the moon and a soul to guide you  
> And a promise I'll never go  
> I'll give you hope to bring out all the life inside you  
> And the strength that will help you grow  
> I'll give you truth and a future that's twenty times better  
> Than any Hollywood plot."

The pounding music and constantly changing lights were giving Riley a headache. The groups of drunk twenty something’s grinding away annoyed her, as did the smell of sweat and liquor. She didn’t know what she was doing at a club, she really wasn’t ready for this yet, but somehow Cassie had convinced her to come and then disappeared into the crowded dance floor. Riley made her way to the bar and was relieved to see an open barstool, which she quickly claimed. She waited patiently for the bartender to take the order of a group of giggling drunk girls. As soon as he passed the last glass over, she leaned over and yelled over the music.

“Double shot of whiskey. Whatever is cheap.”

“No, no, no,” a voice next to her called. “Get her the good stuff. Neat.”

Riley turned toward the source of the voice. Well heeeeeello, gorgeous. The man next to her was strikingly attractive with deep brown eyes, longish hair, and a muscular build. The corner of his mouth quirked into a smirk when she looked at him and Riley felt her heart pound. Even though this guy was exactly her type, it had been years since anyone had had such an immediate and intense effect on her and it caught her by surprise. Still, the presumptiveness of changing her drink order annoyed her to no end and she couldn’t let him get away with that.

“ _Excuse_ me? What if I wanted the cheap stuff?”

“No one wants the cheap stuff.” He stated this as if it were just a fact.

“So, you’re trying to tell me that if I was a man, or let’s face it, less attractive, you’d feel free to barge in and change my order.”

He was sipping on his own whiskey and laughed. “I can take it back and drink it myself if you like.” He nodded in the direction of the bartender who had placed the glass of premium whiskey in front of her.

Riley picked it up, but before sipping, gave a pointed look at the man next to her. “You’re paying.” She took a long sip, not losing eye contact with him over the rim.

“So? How is it?”

“Really fucking good,” she acknowledged.

“Told you. No one wants the cheap stuff.” He turned away from her and went back to sipping his drink. What the fuck? He just bought her a drink she couldn’t afford and didn’t try to hit on her after? What was his deal?

Maybe she had been a little hostile . . .

She took in more details of the hot mystery guy who decides what whiskey people are allowed to drink. Definitely around her age or maybe a little bit older. He was tall, she could tell, even though he was sitting. He was dressed down for a club though in jeans, white tee and denim shirt. Interesting choice. Maybe he had come straight from work or something. He had an accent, but she was having a hard time placing it.

“Do you always fix people’s drink orders?”

He slid his eyes in her direction. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Keep talking to me just because I bought your drink.”

“I’m not. People usually don’t just change random strangers' orders and guys don’t usually buy me a drink just for the hell of it.”

“Well, clearly you don’t have terrible taste in drinks like most of the people in here, so consider that just me. . . averting a tragedy.”

“What? Are you some sort of whiskey expert?”

“Heh. You could say that.”

“Suuuure.”

“Look, if you had to hang out with the kind of people I do, you’d become an expert in whatever drink keeps you not quite sober too.”

“Sounds like you need better friends if you have to drink to tolerate their company.”

Hot Whiskey Guy just snorted a laugh and went back to sipping his drink. Riley was intrigued. He really didn't seem interested in hitting on her, which begged the question, why did he feel the need to interfere to begin with.

“So, do I get to know the name of the guy who changes people’s whiskey orders without asking?”

He locked his dark brown eyes on hers and seemed to search her soul. Riley’s stomach started doing somersaults and her fingers began to tingle. “. . . What the hell. I’m Drake.”

She smiled at that. “Riley.”

They finished their drinks, and then another round. Riley was inexplicably drawn to the hot whiskey expert, and was feeling the effect of a significant amount of alcohol in a short period of time, so she decided to take a chance.

“Dance with me,” she told him.

"No."

"No? Why not?"

He scoffed. “I don’t dance.”

“Uh . . . you’re in a club. If you just wanted a drink, there are a lot less annoying places to do that.”

“Wasn’t my pick.”

“Oh?” This surprised her. He didn’t seem to be with anyone. Maybe all his friends had found their Friday night hook-up and had left him alone.

Hot Whiskey Guy, er, Drake, pointed to another guy out on the dance floor with a crowd of girls around him. He was cute, stylishly dressed, and killing it on the dance floor. “See that guy? That’s Maxwell. This was his choice. We went to not one, but two different clubs last night.”

It all made sense now. “Partying hard. So, tourist then.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You have an accent. You’re hitting various clubs in one week, including Thursday night, which is notoriously packed with college students with fake IDs. Locals usually have a regular spot. What’s the occasion?”

“It’s my best friend’s bachelor party.”

“I see. And . . . Maxwell is your best friend? He seems awfully flirty for an engaged guy.” Maxwell was now wrapped around one of the girls that he had been showing off for moments earlier. Riley looked back at Drake to gauge his reaction. He laughed hard.

“No, Maxwell is _not_ my best friend. I barely tolerate him. Liam is” Drake’s eyes scanned the room and then snapped back to Riley, “ . . . you know what, I don’t see him right now.”

“Well, that’s okay. Besides, you owe me that dance.”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “Do I? I already bought you a drink. Two actually.”

“Then I owe you the dance. Trust me, it’ll be an even trade.”

He threw her another killer smirk and Riley felt her knees go weak again. “That good huh?”

Riley was feeling more adventurous than she had in months and exhilarated by the rush of flirting with someone new. She leaned in closer to him and whispered in his ear, “Really fucking good.”

His eyes went wide and swept over her again. “I’d be some kind of stupid to refuse an offer like that, but I’m not really the kind of guy who dances. I don’t know how.”

“Seriously? Just sway side to side and you’re basically set.”

“Really? According to Maxwell there’s a lot more to it than that.” They looked to Maxwell who had extricated himself from the girl he had been dancing with and was pulling out some fancy breakdancing moves. Wow! He was a remarkably good dancer, if a bit dramatic.

“That’s . . . impressive. But maybe I like your style better.”

“Come on, it’s more of a lack of style than anything.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

Drake allowed Riley to lead him onto the dance floor, forcing him to sway in time to the rhythm of her hips. After a minute, he relaxed into her rhythm and she pressed herself against him, eliciting a groan that excited her. His hands wandered lower and he kept his eyes locked on hers. She toyed with the edges of his t-shirt, lightly brushing the skin underneath with her fingertips. When he inhaled sharply, she slid her hands around his waist, pulling him even closer, moving her hips to press against him, drawing another moan from him.

Riley spun around, pressing her back to his chest and shifting to slide up an down against him. She reached up to pull his head down into the curve of her neck. She felt the heat rise between them that had nothing to do with the hot June air or the crowd of people in the club. He left a trail of kisses down her neck, the rough stubble of his five o’clock shadow in contrast to the softness of his lips, sending shivers down her spine.

Riley turned to face him again. He stepped back, “Sorry . . . I got a little carried away. . . I -”

She interrupted him by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to meet her mouth in a searing kiss. Riley was certain time had slowed down and the world was burning down around them because all she could sense was heat and fire from their entwined bodies and the smoky whiskey she could still taste in his mouth. 

His hands wandered her body until settling firmly on her hips and she tangled her hands in his hair, melting into him. It had been a long time since anyone had kissed her like they wanted her and she felt like drowning in the sensation.

When they finally pulled apart, Riley instantly felt the loss. He must have felt the same because immediately his mouth crashed back into hers in another fierce kiss. Suddenly every part of her lit up like a Christmas tree as warmth spread all the way down to her toes. She had no idea how long they stood in the middle of the dance floor completely wrapped up in each other, but it felt like it wasn’t long enough when she finally pulled back. She searched his eyes for a response.

Drake, tightened an arm around her waist and leaned back in. He pressed a trail of urgent kisses along her neck and up to her ear. “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but -”

“Wanna go back to my place?” she asked, cutting him off.

“God yes. Just . . .” He looked around the room. Riley leaned her back into him and resumed moving her hips in time to the beat against him, allowing her hands to slide down behind her. Drake inhaled sharply. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”

Riley grabbed his hand and led him outside. He had pulled her back briefly to say something to an older man, maybe in his forties whose body language looked like a bouncer, but the tailored suit said otherwise. It might have made her curious if her brain allowed any thoughts other than what she was going to do to Drake the whiskey expert tourist once she got him to her apartment. 

**********

They crashed through the door to her apartment, lips locked passionately and arms wrapped around each other. Riley pulled away long enough to lock the door behind them and peek around the corner to find her roommate’s room still empty. She turned back to Drake with a smile and threw herself back into his arms. She led him into her room and he closed the door behind him. She pulled him back in to kiss her and pushed the denim shirt off his shoulders. Her hands slid under his t-shirt, pushing it up as she enjoyed the feel of the hard muscles of his torso. 

They broke the kiss long enough for him to finish taking his shirt off. Riley stood in awe of how perfectly toned he was. She knew he was good-looking, but that shirt had not been doing him justice, he was a fucking work of art.

“In a hurry,” he asked her with another knee weakening smirk.

“Oh, did you want to stop for tea?” Riley asked, her hands tugging on his belt.

Drake let out a chuckle and helped her finish stripping him down.

Once he was all the way down to his boxers, Riley ran a hand down his abs. “God you’re hot!”

“Look who's talking,” Drake said, pulling her back into a fiery kiss and unzipping her dress at the same time, letting it fall to the floor.

She pushed him against the wall and let her hand slip under the waistband of his boxers. He gasped as she made contact and moaned, throwing his head back.

“Wait,” Drake said. Riley looked up in surprise.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No, just . . .” 

Drake unhooked her bra and kissed her shoulder, nudging the straps out of the way. His hands, firmly on her waist tugged her toward the bed. They stumbled toward the bed, throwing the remains of Riley’s clothing to the side, and stealing desperate kisses as they walked. It didn’t take long to get there, since Riley’s room was tiny. They collapsed onto the bed, each with a grin, Drake shifted down to the bottom of the bed and began kissing along her thigh and making his way slowly up. He lingered in every spot that made her gasp or shiver, taking his time getting back up to face her. 

“That was . . . a hell of a start,” Riley gasped just before he claimed her mouth again.

“Just wait . . .”

Drake’s hand slid up her thigh and between her folds, searching gently for their target. Riley moaned deeply as his fingers moved in unrelenting circles. Riley gripped the side of her bed and she edged closer to release.

“Holy shit! You are . . . really good at that!”

Drake met her eyes and they darkened even more. Her brain cleared just enough to work out a sentence.

“Condems . . . top drawer. . . but . . . don’t stop.”

With a smirk, he reached her drawer with his free hand and quickly found what he was looking for. Moments later, he removed his hand and was lowering himself onto her, placing hot kisses along her neck. Riley wrapped her legs around him, shifting and changing the angle in such a way that made them both groan. She arched against him and soon was lost in their rhythm as pleasure arced through her body like lightning. Soon, her mind went blissfully blank as the waves of euphoria overcame her and moments later, heard him cry out as well.

A while later, Riley curled up next to Drake, pleasantly numb. She lazily traced the outline of the muscles on his chest and he ran his fingers through her hair. 

“Wow . . .” Drake said. “That was . . .”

“Yes?” Riley asked flirtatiously.

“Really fucking good.”

“Hey, that’s my line,” she teased, but smiled enjoying the post-coital glow. “Told you it would be an even trade. Hey, wait here.”

Riley hopped up, threw on a tee-shirt, and made her way to the kitchen. She found a couple glasses and a bottle of whiskey and returned to her room.

“You actually keep whiskey on hand?”

“Ummm, yes?”

“Huh. I don’t usually meet girls that actually like drinking whiskey. And this is. . . not bad,” he said, inspecting the bottle.

“Thanks,” she replied drily. Riley poured them each a glass and curled up next to him on the bed. “So these girls you usually meet? What do they drink? Obnoxious cocktails with umbrellas in them or wine that they pretend to know has an oaky finish or something like that?”

He laughed and she decided she loved that sound. “That actually covers it pretty accurately.”

“So pretentious wines and disgusting sugary cocktails. Yeah, I know the type.”

“But that’s not you.”

“No, not really. I’m happy with whatever, but usually I like to keep things simple.”

“The best things in life usually are.”

“So are your party-hard bachelor party friends going to miss you?”

“Nah, they won’t even notice.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Eh, they all have their own things going on. And they know I hate clubs.”

“So you’re more of a drink at the bar alone kind of guy.”

“When you put it that way it sounds so . . .”

“Lonely?”

“A little, yeah.”

“Well, I’m glad I could be there to keep you company. For tonight at least.”

“You know what, me too.”

They made eye contact again and the way he looked at her made her breath catch. 

“Drake . . . kiss me now.”

Drake finished the whiskey in his glass and put the glass down on the nightstand behind him without taking his eyes off Riley. He pulled her in and wrapped her up into a slow, deep kiss that lasted well into the night.


	2. Some Things Change, Some Stay the Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Riley navigate the morning after their hook-up. Drake takes the bachelor party to a dive bar, where Liam seems a little too interested in the pretty American waitress.

Drake woke up on the last day in New York in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, with an unfamiliar woman. This was definitely not the Penthouse Suite they had been staying at, so it must be her place. The memories of the club and meeting Riley started flooding back. While he was certainly not a stranger to going home with a girl he met in a bar, something about this girl felt different. She pushed him, challenged him in a way that put him in his place. She was so much more real than any girl he’d met at court and sharper and more intriguing than any girl he’d met outside of court. Then, of course, there was that mind-blowing kiss on the dance floor that led them to where they were now.

But none of that really mattered since he would be heading home tomorrow and she would be staying here on the other side of the world.

Riley stirred next to him and he moved to look for his pants, but she pulled him back.

“Hey.” Riley said with a smile. “You stayed.”

“It appears so.”

“So. . .are you in a rush to leave and avoid the awkward morning after conversation or are you up for breakfast?”

She had a way of laying things out so bluntly that he wasn’t sure quite how to respond.

“I could eat . . .”

“And your bachelor party friends won’t miss you?”

“Not likely. We have some plans for later today, but generally don’t plan for mornings. Between hangovers and jet lag, it’s just better that way.”

“Good, ‘cause I could really go for a cronut about now.”

Drake looked at her blankly. “A what?”

“Don’t tell me they don’t have cronuts where you’re from.”

“Can’t say they do . . .”

“Where  _ are _ you from?”   


“Nope.”

“Nope? What does that mean?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Well, that’s awfully cryptic. Now I’m curious and will find a way to figure it out when a minute ago you could have just told me and I would have said ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ and moved on.”

“Guess you’ll have to stay curious.”

“Anyway, Drake-from-somewhere-in-Europe, I’m going to shower and then go get cronuts before I go to work my crappy waitressing job. Are you joining me?”

Drake hesitated for about ten seconds just staring. Suddenly he wasn’t sure if that invitation was just for breakfast or for the shower as well.

“Well don’t spend too long deciding, my roommate will probably wake up pretty soon and from what I remember about last night, you’re not one to keep quiet.”

***************************

A long shower and a short walk later, they were walking into a small bakery. Riley walked confidently up to the counter and ordered two cronuts and two coffees. She turned to Drake.

“Oh, I didn’t ask if you drink coffee. I guess I just assumed.”

He took the coffee with a grin. “Fortunately for you, you were right.”

“Let me guess . . . you drink it black.”

“No need to hide the flavor behind a bunch of sugar. Keep it simple.”

“The best things in life usually are.”

“And  _ that _ is my line,” Drake said, smiling down at Riley. 

Riley locked eyes with him and smiled softly before turning to find a place to sit. They found a seat at a small table and her knee bumped into his as they sat down. “Watch it Riley. You’re on my side.”

Instead of moving her leg, she doubled down and hooked her foot behind the back of his leg. “Sorry, did I miss the part where you own this bakery?”

He shook his head in amusement. “You never let anything go, do you?

“Nope,” Riley answered with a happy grin.

Drake felt his pulse quicken. He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had made him feel like this. Or if any ever had. Or when he’d just stopped being careful and had fun with someone. “Good thing you live an ocean away. You’d be trouble, I can tell.”

Riley chuckled. “More than you know. So . . . are you ready for your first cronut experience?”

Drake inspected the pastry Riley had pulled from the small paper bag and handed him on a napkin. “What exactly is it?”   


“The sumptuous inside of a croissant mixed with the glazed outside of a donut. One of the best pastries ever invented. Together?”

“Okay. One . . . Two . . . “

“Three!” They bit into their cronuts and Drake had to admit, it was as delicious as promised. Flaky and buttery, but with just the right amount of sugary glaze.

“What’s the verdict?” Riley asked.

“I cannot fault your taste in drinks or pastries so far.”

“So . . . what shitty tourist thing are you doing today?” Riley asked, sipping on her coffee.   


Drake laughed out loud, causing a few people to turn and grumble in their direction. “Well, we’re supposed to go to the Empire State Building this afternoon.”

“Ugh. So not worth it.”

“Then I’m supposed to find an ‘authentic’ New York dive bar where we can eat.”

Riley perked up at that. “ _ You’re _ supposed to? Why you?”

“Drop me in a foreign country and I’ll find you good food and a dive bar. It’s like a superpower.”

“Hmmmm. Not a bad superpower. Far more practical than, say turning into a green giant that smashes everything.”

“Thank you.”

“So, a dive bar, huh?”

Riley pulled out her phone and tapped away for a second. “Here, text this to yourself.”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “Trying to get me to give you my number?”

“Or trying to help you out by giving you directions to a dive bar that should serve your purposes.”

Drake did not know what to make of this girl. She never seemed to get flustered and had an answer for everything. He could almost picture her going toe to toe with Olivia and surviving it. Drake typed in his number and hit send. Riley beamed at him.

“So, if it were up to you, how would you spend the day?”

Like just about everything she had asked so far, Drake wasn’t sure how to answer this question. It was never about what he wanted to do, this trip was for Liam. He would never choose a big city or busy nightlife, he’d much prefer to disappear into nature somewhere by himself.

“I don’t know. Somewhere . . . quieter, I guess. I’m not really into big cities and crowded tourist spots.”   


Riley nodded as if she actually understood. “Well, I’m totally breaking one-night stand rules here, but if you find yourself wanting to hang out somewhere quieter, I know a place. You can call me.”

“Thanks for the offer, but tonight is supposed to be our last night and the only night we can . . . well anyway, I’ll probably be sticking with the guys tonight. No offense.”

Riley laughed. “None taken . . . and the offer stands with no expectations. I have to get to work, but . . . this was fun. I’m glad I met you, Drake.”

Riley stood up, leaned over the table to kiss him on the cheek and walked out of the bakery without looking back.

************************

After a somewhat harrowing trip to the Empire State Building that took significantly longer to visit than their usual tourist stops that are cleared for a visit by the Crown Prince, Drake found himself back in the rented limo with Liam, Maxwell, and Tariq. Maxwell was already talking about what clubs they could hit that night and Drake’s mind was wandering back to Riley and her offer to hang out somewhere quieter. He wouldn’t do that to Liam though, considering this was the only day they were being allowed to explore the city without Bastien tagging along.

“Alright, Drake,” Maxwell was saying, “it’s your turn to dazzle us with your ability to find food.”

Drake rolled his eyes. “Maxwell, there are probably five restaurants on any given block in this city, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“But we need an authentic dive bar to complete the New York experience.”

“Fine.” Drake’s thoughts still on Riley, he pulled out his phone and gave the driver the address she had texted him earlier. With the contact still open on his phone, he saved her contact info. Even if he never called her, it was a good memory.

Liam looked at him questioningly. “An address? That’s not how you usually find the right place.”

“It was a tip.”

“Whoa,” Maxwell said. “Drake spoke to someone long enough to get a bar recommendation!”

Drake blushed involuntarily, then tried desperately to smooth his face back into a neutral expression.

“Wait!” Maxwell was practically bouncing in his seat now. “Was this a tip from the hot brunette you left with last night?”

“What? Uh, . . . I don’t . . .huh?”

Maxwell just looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish answering.

“Well, she didn’t have terrible taste in drinks, so I figured it would be worth checking it out,” Drake mumbled.

Liam chuckled. “Well at least we got Drake to have fun one night.” Maxwell and Tariq joined in the laughter.

Drake shot a glare at Liam. “Seriously dude? I don’t think you should be the one lecturing me about how to have fun.”

“Point taken. So, let’s try to have at least one night of fun before the social season.”

“What do you mean?” Maxwell asked. “This summer is going to be epic. One non-stop party.”

“Yes,” Tariq said. He had been particularly quiet today. Drake wondered what was up. “I’m quite looking forward to it. In fact, I was going to tell you Liam, I’ll be taking an early flight to Paris tomorrow. I have some shopping to do for the social season. I’m not sure if I will make it to the Masquerade or not, but I will meet you all in Lythikos at the latest.”

“Of course, Lord Tariq,” Liam said politely. “Enjoy Paris!”

“Just don’t remind me about Lythikos,” Drake grumbled.

Just then, the limo came to a stop and the four men got out. Drake looked around and . . . it looked perfect, exactly the kind of place he would have picked himself. They had left Manhattan and had crossed a bridge into Brooklyn, according to the map he had looked at. It was nice to get away from the touristy atmosphere they had been part of for the last three days. Part of him itched to text Riley and thank her for the recommendation. The other part knew it was better just to let her live in his memory as a particularly great hook-up.

“You guys go ahead, I’m going to get a picture of the bridge from here,” Liam said, looking around in wonder at the tall brick buildings and the river just a few blocks down.

Drake shrugged and led the others inside. They waited by the door for a minute when a greasy looking man looked around the room with a scowl. He crossed over to them.

“Can I help you?”   


Tariq spoke first. “We will take your finest table, sir. It’s for my friend’s bachelor party, so we would also like to request bottle service.”

The man didn’t answer, but turned around and walked to the back.

“That was quite rude,” Tariq said indignantly.

Just then a pretty blonde girl walked confidently toward them.

“Waitress, there you are. We need your best table.” Tariq said.

“Forget the table. Just bring us whiskey, and lots of it,” Drake corrected.

The tiny waitress looked back at another server, who was standing back by the kitchen and seemed to have some sort of silent conversation. She turned back to them with a bright smile, “Right this way gentlemen. I’ll be taking care of you tonight.”

Once they were seated, Maxwell didn’t even look at the menu he had been handed before declaring, “Waitress, steaks for the table!” She grinned at him. Oh no! It was going to be a long night if the waitress was going to encourage Maxwell’s antics.

“How about some filet mignon medium rare and prepared with a bearnaise sauce?” Tariq said without a trace of irony.

“Well, no steaks or filet mignon here, but can I interest you in our deluxe burger?” the waitress answered.

“Dare I ask for your wine list?”

“It’s not so much a list. . . Would you prefer the House Red or House White?“

“House red??” Tariq said in horror. The waitress looked unfazed, as if people come in every night ordering fancy rich people food.

Drake rolled his eyes and Tariq and turned back to the waitress. “We’ll be fine with a bottle of whiskey . . . and four deluxe burgers,” Drake told her. 

“Four?”

He nodded toward the door where Liam was walking in. He watched as the girl’s jaw dropped as she noticed Liam for the first time. That was not an uncommon reaction.

“Sorry I’m late. Thank you for your patience, Miss . . .?”

Most girls took awhile to recover when they first met Liam, but this one seemed to get herself back together quickly.

“I’m Cassie,” she answered with a brilliant smile and enough flutter to her eyelashes to be obviously interested, but not annoying.

“Charmed to make your acquaintance, Cassie.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” she said, seemingly genuine. Then to the three that were already seated, “It’s nice to meet you. Now let me get your order in. Be right back!”

Drake watched the waitress head to the back and sighed a bit inside as Liam was staring at the door the waitress disappeared behind. That girl was just some waitress in a bar and he already had a whole lineup of beautiful, rich, noblewomen waiting back at home. He turned his attention back to the conversation. Maxwell was retelling the story of nearly falling off the top of the Empire State Building. Drake couldn’t take it anymore.

“We know. We were there. It was three hours ago.”

“But I have to perfect my retelling of it now if I’m going to impress the ladies tonight with my daring adventure,” Maxwell whined.

“It wasn’t a . . . you know what. Nevermind.” Drake cut himself off from arguing with Maxwell. It wasn’t like he would stop. Besides the waitress, er, Cassie, was coming back with their drinks.

Cassie set down the open bottle and the four glasses. She poured out the drinks, and left the bottle on the table.

“Burgers should be out in a minute. Can I get you anything else?”

Drake shook his head as Tariq eyed the whiskey suspiciously.

Liam locked eyes with the waitress again, “I think we have what we need, but thank you.” She flashed another bright white smile and returned to the kitchen.

Maxwell lifted his glass, “I would like to propose a toast. To Liam for having to get married this year and giving us an excuse to party in New York. And most of all, to me, for coming up with the idea to party in New York and planning the best bachelor party in the history of Cordonia AND New York combined.”

“Thank you Maxwell,” Liam said, raising his glass.

Drake rolled his eyes, but raised his glass as well.

“Aaaand the party’s not over. Since Bastien’s not tagging along, we can still get to at least three different clubs tonight, but I’m having trouble narrowing them down.” Maxwell turned back to his phone to consult his list of clubs. Drake wasn’t interested in going to another club. There had been too many already, and he doubted they could top last night. At least there was a bar at each of them, but they were already in a bar. Although, the way Liam kept looking at the waitress and the way she was looking back, maybe they should go sooner rather than later.

Drake wasn’t sure why it bothered him. It had been that way since they were teenagers. So, why, after all the noble girls around court and commoners anywhere they went throwing themselves at Liam, does it bother him when the girl is a random waitress in a random New York bar that they will never see again? It doesn’t, he decided and picked up his burger not bothering to look up and acknowledge the woman standing next to the table.

“Um, Miss? You seem to have neglected to bring us the appropriate silverware,” Tariq spoke up. “In fact, I’m not even sure what kind of fork I should be using for this . . . deluxe . . . burger.”

“You don’t need forks!” Maxwell exclaimed right in Drake’s ear. Drake shot him a look. “Oh, sorry. It’s just, not everyday I get to eat something without Bertrand correcting my table manners. And with that, I would like to propose another toast. . .”

Drake groaned, still chewing his burger. “Maxwell, you just . . . .”

“To a night without cutlery and my brother!” Maxwell continued not pausing for Drake’s protest.

Liam chuckled and touched his glass to Maxwell’s. “The Duke has been especially hard on you lately?”

Drake tuned out and focused on his food. If there was any topic he was less interested in than the Duke of Ramsford and the glory of House Beaumont, he wasn’t sure what it was. Drake’s attention was pulled back into the conversation when Liam’s phone dinged and his friend sighed after reading the message.

“What was that?” Drake asked.

“Just Leo. He wished me luck this week and reminded me that I can always stay in the States with him.”

“He’s here?” Maxwell asked. “I thought he was cruising around the world or something.”

“He was. I guess he and Katie have returned to her grandmother’s estate here though.”

Drake had to hand it to Leo, if he was being forced to become king and marry Madeline, he might just run off on a cruise ship and marry the first girl he met too. Fortunately, nobody would ever try to force Drake into the nobility.

The conversation continued, with no less than six more toasts from Maxwell. The waitress brought another bottle of whiskey to the table at some point, which was now empty and it was time to move on to another Maxwell party place. He got up to leave and Drake noticed the absurdly large tip that Liam left for the pretty waitress . . . what was her name again? Everyone gathered outside next to the limo, but Liam was still inside.

A few minutes later, Liam joined them with a triumphant smile.

“So I have it narrowed down to three places,” Maxwell started.

Liam interrupted. “Actually, Cassie will be joining us and she has recommended that we go to a club called Kismet.”

Drake glared at Liam. “You invited the  _ waitress _ to your bachelor party?”

Liam met his gaze with an authoritative look. “Yes. I did.”

“Liam, this is our last night! The whole point of this trip is that we aren’t going to be able to hang out like this anymore.”

“I don’t think you’re the best person to be lecturing me on that, considering you left with a girl last night and didn’t even come back until mid-morning.”

Drake swallowed. Maybe he shouldn’t say anything.

“For the record,” Maxwell said with a grin, “I’m all for it. She’ll probably know all the inside secret passwords to get us past the line or for secret drinks that aren’t on the menu.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have someone to show us around,” Tariq said, agreeing with Maxwell.

Drake groaned. “Fine, just don’t lead her on.”

Liam started to shake his head, but broke out in a smile instead. Drake turned to see Cassie the waitress, only . . . she didn’t look like a waitress anymore, she looked like a movie star. She had changed into a sparkling pink dress and had taken her hair out of the braid and let her blond curls loose. 

“Wow,” he felt himself say. 

Liam looked at him with a satisfied smirk and mouthed ‘Right?’

“Wow?” Cassie asked, looking at him.

“I . . . almost didn’t recognize you.” 

“That uniform wasn’t doing you justice,” Tariq complimented. Cassie smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, the waitress is hot!” Maxwell declared, which seemed to delight her to no end.

“Ahem. Her name is Cassie, and I doubt she appreciates you talking about her like that,” Liam said pointedly at Maxwell. 

“Right. Sorry, Cassie,” Maxwell said. He looked around and down almost as if he expected someone to jump out and scold him. “I meant to say, you look lovely.” 

“Let’s go, boys!” she declared, climbing into the limo. They all settled into their spots in the back of the limo and Liam slid into the seat next to Cassie.

“So she’s our tour guide now?” Drake glared at Liam. 

“Cassie was kind enough to agree to show us around. She’s doing us a favor, so play nice.” Drake scowled as the limo took off for yet another club. It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you so much for the lovely comments everyone left on the first chapter! I'm thrilled that people seem to like the concept and are looking forward to how it plays out. Hopefully this chapter keeps you just as entertained!


	3. Bachelor Parties and Beaches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie tries to convince Riley to join her with the guys from the bachelor party. Riley offers Drake a chance to cash-in on her earlier option.

Riley had already changed into leggings and a tank top and settled in to watch Netflix when the texts from Cassie started coming in.

_ Cassie: OMG! Riley!! There’s a bachelor party here! Come back and have a driiiiiiiink!!! _

_ Riley: You want me to be there when I’m not getting paid? Hard pass. _

_ Cassie: Seriously Riley! They are suuuuuuper cute! You’re missing out. _

Riley was curious. Did Drake take her tip and actually take the guys there. He had called her out on her pathetic excuse to get his phone number, but it was a valid recommendation. That reminded her, she checked back at Drake’s number and looked up the country code. Cordonia . . . interesting. Where was that? It sounded familiar, but that was probably from her European history classes.

Then something clicked in her brain. Cordonia was the country that The Crown & The Flame was based off. Riley wondered why he didn’t want to tell her. He probably thought she wouldn’t believe him or something. It was such a small place and she’d never actually met anyone from there before.

_ Cassie: Riley!! You need to come back and see this for yourself. There was another guy and he’s crazy hot! He’s got to be a model. He looks like a Roman statue. _

_ Riley: lol, have fun and send me pictures. _

Moments later, Cassie sent her pictures, clearly taken from the kitchen door. Yep, it was Drake and his friends. She could see Maxwell too. The others were a guy with dark hair wearing a full suit and a gorgeous blonde man in a well tailored jacket. She wondered which one was the best friend bachelor. What was his name . . .

Drake seemed so out of place in this group, who all clearly came from money. Then again, he did buy her top shelf alcohol without batting an eye. Maybe he was rich too and just didn’t like dressing up, but she had not gotten the rich boy vibe from him. This intrigued her even more. She was tempted to text him, but did not want to ruin his night out with the guys and they would be leaving tomorrow anyway. If he was from New York, she would have pursued it, but since he was not, there was no point in getting involved.

_ Cassie: What do you think?? _

_ Riley: Yep, they’re pretty hot. _

_ Cassie: Right?? Come back! I’ll even let you call denim shirt guy, he’s definitely your type. _

_ But I want the blonde.  _

_ Or the one with the black shirt. He’s cute and funny.  _

_ I can’t decide. _

_ Riley: I can’t.  _

_ Cassie: Netflix will still be there tomorrow. These guys won’t. _

_ Riley: You’re going to hate me. _

_ I met them last night. At least, I met denim shirt guy. His name is Drake. The bar was my recommendation. _

_ Anyway, we hooked up and it would be awkward. _

_ Cassie: WHAT?!?! Why didn’t you tell me???? _

_ Wait . . . they were at the club last night? How did I miss them? _

_ Riley: I don’t know. The guy in the black shirt is Maxwell. He was breakdancing all night out on the dance floor. _

_ Cassie: Hyper Black Shirt Guy DANCES?!?!? Now I really can’t decide! _

Riley chuckled at Cassie’s overexcitement. It wasn’t as if meeting hot guys and having them wrapped around her little finger was a novelty for her. It was practically a nightly event. Riley settled in with her glass of wine and watched a documentary about haunted houses in New England. She was about to head to bed when Cassie texted again.

_ Cassie: Taking the bachelor party guys to Kismet. You should commmmmme! _

_ Riley: You already got me out to a club this week. I’ll pass. _

_ Cassie: Boooooo! _

For a moment, Riley was torn between curling up in bed and texting Drake to see if he wanted saving from the club. Never, ever in her life had Riley obsessed this much about a fling. That was the whole point - they served their purpose and then they both went on with life, forgetting the other existed. It wasn’t something she did  _ all _ the time, but at different points in her life, sure, there had been some forgettable one-night stands. 

Drake was the first one since her breakup three months ago, and it was freeing and exciting, and really fucking hot, but it should not have lingered on into the next day. Maybe she’d just gotten used to being in a relationship and was missing it. Would it be so bad to stop by Kismet and see him again. He’d be gone in the morning anyway. Was there such a thing as a two-night stand?

Riley found herself standing in her bedroom literally looking back and forth between her closet and her bed in indecision. She realized that she wasn’t actually tired and that even if she chose bed, she would just end up laying there fantasizing about the night before. She needed to get out and clear her head, so she changed, not into club clothes, but just regular Riley clothes: dark jeans, maroon top and her favorite leather jacket. She pulled her hair out of the messy top knot she’d thrown it in for her night in and brushed out her long dark hair.

Riley’s phone rang. 

It was near midnight, who . . . 

Holy shit, it was Drake!

With a grin, she answered the phone.

“Hellooooo, Drake from Cordonia. How’s Kismet?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, but she could hear the music blasting, so she knew he was there.

“Well, Riley from New York, I have questions for you.”

“No way, I asked first.”

“Fine, I’ll answer yours first. It’s awful. It’s loud and has too many colorful lights. Even the floor has colorful lights. The line from the bar is a mile long and I’m kind of wishing you were here to get me to the front of the line.”

“What makes you think I’d be able to get to the front of the line?”

“Bartenders never say ‘no’ to hot girls.”

“Drake . . . you definitely just called me hot.”

“Uh, yeah, pretty sure I did last night too. I do have eyes you know.”

“Good to know. Anyway, are you calling to cash in your ‘get out of clubs free’ card?”

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “I dunno. . . this was supposed to be our last night, so I’m trying to be here for Liam, but he’s pretty wrapped up with the waitress from the bar that . . . wait, how did you know where I was?”

“Cassie. The waitress from the bar. We work there together.”

“Figures.”

“Tell you what. I’ll head over to Kismet. If you want to stay, I’ll buy you a whiskey -”

“Not the cheap crap.”

“Noted. If you don’t want to stay, we can go somewhere else.”

“I can’t seem to say no to you, so . . . why not.”

***************

When Riley arrived at Kismet, she skipped the line and walked straight up to Nick, the bouncer.

“Riley! It’s been awhile!”

“Hey Nick. I haven’t felt much like going out lately. Cassie’s here?”

“She rolled in in a limo with a bunch of guys already. But I think she left a few minutes ago.”

“Really? Did she take any of them with her?”

“Oh yeah. Tall blonde guy. Looked like the fancy type she’s into.”

“Ha! That’s Cassie for you.”

“Danielle’s here somewhere though. Are you coming in?”

“I don’t know, let me text my friend.”

Mentally she laughed at that. Was Drake her friend? She’d known him for twenty-four hours and had spent most of the time they’d been together in bed with him, so . . . probably not friends.

_ Riley: I’m out front. Are we staying or going? _

_ Drake: Going. Please. _

“Looks like I’m heading out. Good to see you Nick.”

“See ya Riley.”

Riley walked a few yards away from the club and requested an uber. She turned around and caught sight of Drake walking toward her. Somehow, he was even sexier than she remembered, maybe because he seemed more confident as he walked purposefully toward her. He gave her a lopsided grin that sent her pulse racing. When he caught up to her he lifted her up and pressed his lips to hers, making her gasp in surprise. When they pulled apart, Riley was slightly dizzy.

“Wow,” he said when they finally separated. 

“Miss me?” she asked flirtatiously.

“Let’s say you were preferable to standing around in a corner sipping whiskey and scowling at everyone.”

“Clearly a high bar.”

“You’d be surprised how few clear it.”

Riley checked her phone to see where the uber was and they still had a couple minutes. So, she dragged Drake with her to the liquor store across the street and found a bottle of whiskey, just in time for their uber to arrive.

A fifteen minute ride later, the car dropped them off at a small cove at the beach in Brooklyn. Drake looked around in awe. “Are you serious right now? I didn’t even know there were places like this in New York.”

“What? Beaches? It is an island you know. Or a few islands, actually.”

“It’s just . . . this is . . .”

“It’s my secret spot, so I’m really trusting you.”

“We should get a fire going.”

“Really?” Riley was surprised. She didn’t have the first clue as to how to start a fire. She wasn’t even confident she could turn on her stove.

“It’ll probably be pretty dark and cold without one. Help me find some driftwood.”

Riley walked the beach and found some wood, bringing it back to Drake. He pulled something from his pocket that made sparks and soon they had a crackling fire.

“How do you know how to do that?” Riley asked as they settled in next to the fire and passed the whiskey bottle back and forth between them.

“I used to go camping with my dad a lot when I was a kid. He didn’t get a lot of vacation time, but when he did, that was one of the things he liked to do. He and I would disappear into the woods for days at a time.”

“That’s sweet.”

“It is not. It’s . . . rugged and . . .manly.”

Riley suppressed a laugh. “Yes, of course it is. That’s what I meant. It just sounds like you have a great dad, that’s all.”

“Alright Riley, you have some questions to answer.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“First of all, you know I’m from Cordonia. How’d you work that one out?”

“The country code on your phone number.”

Drake shook his head. “Rookie mistake.”

“Why do you care if I know where you’re from?”

“I thought this was my turn to ask questions?”

“Just curious.”

He hesitated. “I guess it’s not that big of a deal. Especially since we’re going home tomorrow.”

“About that . . . I thought this was supposed to be a big guys night. What happened?”

“Your friend decided to tag along.”

“Cassie?”

“Yep. She was the waitress at the bar you sent us to and Liam couldn’t take his eyes off her, so he made her our tour guide. She dragged us to the club and at some point the two of them left together.”

“I’m sorry.”

“S’alright. I guess I can’t complain since I kinda did the same thing.”

“Mmmmm. I remember. Was it worth it?” Riley leaned in and kissed her way up Drake’s neck to just below his ear.

Drake chuckled. “You’re something else.”

“Wait a second! She went off with  _ Liam _ ? Isn’t that your best friend? The one whose bachelor party this is supposed to be? What’s he doing with Cassie then?”

Drake ran a hand through his hair and exhaled slowly. “It is his bachelor party, but he’s not engaged. . . yet.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“It’s complicated, and I’m not allowed to explain . . . but it’s kind of an arranged marriage situation. He has to get married this year, he just hasn’t decided on the bride yet.”

“That’s . . . oddly archaic. I didn’t know there were places that still did that.”

“You have no idea. Want somewhere pretending it’s still the 19th century, Cordonia’s your place. Anyway, he really seems to like your friend, but . . .” Drake shook his head. “It was supposed to be our last night out together before all of this. We’ve always been like brothers, doing everything together. When we get home, that’s all going to change.” 

Drake and Riley both stared out at the ocean, lost in thought. Something about being around him had reawakened her senses. The previous three months had been incredibly difficult. First came finding out that her boyfriend Josh had been cheating on her and lying to her for months, then came the fallout from the break-up which left her mostly friendless and lonely. Then came the death of her Aunt Sheila, the only person who’d been there for her for the last ten years through everything. Riley had sunk into a quiet depression. She got up, went to work, went through the motions, but nothing had much meaning for her. When Cassie had convinced her to go to the club last night, it was the first time she had even tried to have a social life in months and until she met Drake, Riley had been convinced that it was a terrible mistake and much too soon. Yet, somehow, he made her want to be her old self again, the Riley that was fun and charming and spontaneous.

“Want to go for a swim?” she asked, nudging his shoulder.

“Trying to get me to take my shirt off again?”

“Can you blame me?” 

Riley stood, stripped down to her underwear, and ran down to the water. It didn’t take long for Drake to follow, hitting her from behind with a huge splash.

“Hey that was a cheap shot!”

“Gonna do something about it?”

They laughed and splashed until Drake finally surrendered.

“While we’re having competitions, let’s race,” he suggested.

“Alright. You’re on. I guess it’s only fair to warn you that I used to swim competitively.”

“What’re the stakes?”

“All your whiskey?”

“Ha! Not a chance.”

“How about a kiss?”

“I can work with that. We’ll swim to the far end of the beach and back to these rocks,” Drake said, pointing out the landmarks.

“Agreed.” Riley and Drake lined up next to the rocks.

“Ready, set . . . go!” Drake shouted and dove into the water first. Riley was only a half a second behind.

Drake had the advantage of height and strength, so Riley knew she would probably have to cheat to win. Drake swam out in front of her, but she kept an even pace behind him. At the far end of the beach, just before he turned to swim back, she reached out and grabbed his foot. It was enough to distract him for a moment, and Riley made her turn and started swimming back to the rocks, now in the lead. “Hey! What was that?”

“Seaweed?” Riley asked innocently.

Of course, it didn’t take much for Drake to catch up to her and soon they were swimming neck and neck.

“I hope you’re ready to lose, Drake!” Riley’s muscles were starting to burn. It was much more difficult swimming in the ocean than a pool, but she had also been trained to keep a reserve of strength. She dug down for that last push and unleashed all the competitiveness she had in her. She saw Drake slowing down and Riley pushed through to the finish line.

“I win!” Riley declared.

“You don’t play fair,” Drake grumbled at her. “I thought I had it.”

“Don’t tell me you’re upset about losing the race.”

“Yeah, well, you’re a cheater.”

“Can’t believe you lost to a girl? You’re a cocky bastard.”

“So are you,” he retorted.

She burst out laughing. “Yeah, that’s true.” 

Suddenly she shivered and he moved closer, heat and hunger in his eyes. “Cold?”

“A little,” she acknowledged. Then, looking up at him, “I’ll take my prize now.”

Drake smirked at her, sending a whole new set of shivers down her spine. He wrapped his arms around her and lightly brushed his lips against hers. What started slow and sweet, quickly turned heated, and then urgent. He lifted her out of the water that lapped around their feet and she wrapped her legs around him. He carried her back to the fire and they fell together into the sand next to the bonfire. 

Riley pulled him down to meet her mouth, kissing him hard. He responded eagerly, and his hands seemed to be everywhere, roaming her body. “God. . . Riley . . . you have no idea how much I want you right now.”

“Me too. Let me show you.” She rolled on top of him, straddling him.

“You are perfect,” He ran strong hands up along her thighs, her waist, unhooked her bra and cupped her breasts in his hands firmly.

“Oh!” Heat flooded her senses.

Moments later she lined herself up and lowered herself slowly onto him.

“Riley . . . you feel amazing . . .” She rocked against him, sending shockwaves of pleasure through both of them. They urgently picked up the pace until he flipped her over onto her back.

“Don’t hold back,” she told him.

“As you wish.”

*******************

Some time later, their heart rates had returned to normal and they laid on the sand, still tangled around each other, staring up at the sky.

“Gotta say,” Drake started, “losing a bet to you works out a hell of a lot better than losing to Liam.”

“Why’s that? You don’t bet kisses?”

“. . . No. And thanks for that, now I’m stuck with that mental image.”

Riley laughed in delight at Drake’s grimace.

“Normally we bet push-ups, with the winner sitting on the back of the loser. We’ve been doing that since we were kids.”

“So, do you lose a lot of bets? Is that how you got arms like this?” She traced a finger along his bicep. They were. . . good arms to have.

“Nah, I usually win. You should see Liam!”

Drake grew suddenly quiet and somber.

“You can’t really see many of the stars here,” Drake observed.

“No,” Riley agreed sadly. “There’s too much light pollution from the city.”

“That’s . . . unfortunate.”

“Huh. I didn’t peg you as a romantic. Do you often go out and look at the stars?”

“I’m not, but yes. It’s always sort of . . . grounded me.”

“I feel that way about the ocean. It’s something that’s always been there, that will outlast us. One constant thing, you know? It reminds me that all my problems are temporary.”

He turned to face her. “Yeah. I get that.”

They spent some time in silence, looking at the stars and the water, enjoying being close to each other. When Riley felt herself starting to drift off to sleep, she realized it was very late and if they fell asleep out on the beach like this, they’d probably get arrested for public indecency. Riley reached out to move some of his hair out of his face and run her fingers through it. “We should probably go. It’s really late.”

“Maybe I’m not ready to give you up just yet.”

“You’re really leaving tomorrow.” She said it as a statement, not a question. “So, if this is the last time I ever see you, I need to thank you.”

Drake gave a rough laugh, “I think you already did.”

Riley rolled her eyes, “Not for that . . .well, yes for that, but . . . it’s been a really rough year for me, so far, and I haven’t been doing well the past few months. Just kind of . . . going through the motions. You helped me remember who I am and that I’m still alive. God that sounds so corny!”

“It does sound corny as hell, but . . . well, if I helped in some way. . . then I guess you’re welcome.”

“Well, Drake from Cordonia, we should probably head out.” He moved to get up, but Riley pulled him back and rolled herself back on top of him. “Hey, I can’t call you that forever. I don’t even know your last name.”

“There’s a reason for that.”

“Hey! Second dates call for last names.”

“This isn’t, I mean . . . not that I wouldn’t . . . but . . .”

“I invited you, so I get to decide. It’s a date, Drake. And like, the third time I’ve seen you naked, so we’re a little past these games, don’t you think? Come on, tell me.” When he clamped his mouth shut and stared at her defiantly, she started kissing her way down his torso, letting her tongue trace the outline of his muscles.

He inhaled sharply, but held out until she was most of the way down his abs. “If you must know . . . it’s Walker.”

“There. That wasn’t so hard was it? Oh, wait . . . but this is. Hmm, quick recovery time.” she said, resuming her trail of kisses all the way down.

Drake groaned, “You do not play fair!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is there such a thing as a two-night stand? I don't know if there is or not, but Drake definitely doesn't have any room to criticize Liam for taking off during the bachelor party anymore.


	4. The Long Flight Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Liam discuss their evenings. Maxwell brings an unwanted guest with him on the flight back to Cordonia.

Drake quietly made his way into the penthouse suite at the hotel. Maxwell was asleep face down on the window seat. He couldn’t see Tariq, so Drake assumed he was asleep in one of the bedrooms. Liam sat on the leather couches in the seating area with a glass of scotch.

“Hey, Liam. I’m surprised to see you back here.”

Liam looked up and his eyes glazed over for a second, apparently wrapped up in a memory. Then he raised an eyebrow at Drake.

“I’m surprised you weren’t here. Where did you go? A dive bar with better whiskey? With another girl you met in the club? ”

“Actually,” Drake said, taking a seat in one of the chairs and accepting the glass Liam handed him, “the same girl.”

Liam’s eyebrows jumped up to his hairline as his eyes widened in surprise. “The  _ same _ girl? Am I still talking to Drake Walker or did someone replace my best friend when I wasn’t looking?”

“Don't make a big deal out of it. She just . . . I don’t know man, you left and I didn’t want to stay at the club . . .so, I . . . called her.”

Liam laughed. “So when’s the wedding?”

Drake snorted. “Alright, enough about Riley. How did your evening with the waitress go?”

“Her name is Cassie, Drake.”

Drake shrugged. “I know. Doesn’t really matter though, since we’ll never see either of them again.”

“Sadly that is too true. But Cassie made me think about some things and how I want to approach the social season.”

“What things? Where did you even go? Her place?”

“No, nothing like that. Unlike you, apparently, I am a gentleman.”

“Ha. That’s what our birth certificates say anyway. So where’d you go then?”

“We, uh, we went to see the Statue of Liberty.”

“Hey man, I’m really sorry we didn’t make time for that on the trip. You know how Maxwell is when he gets in party planning mode.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But Cassie took you? In the middle of the night? How . . .”

“Her roommate was able to get us a boat. We saw the Statue of Liberty, I kissed her. End of story.”

Drake absorbed all of that for a minute.

“By the way,” Liam added, “you didn’t need to be rude to her.”

“Ah hell Liam, it wasn’t about her. It’s just . . . we only had the one night that was really ours, you know.”

Liam nodded. “I’m sorry Drake. I do know. But it’s not like things are really going to change that much back home. At least not for awhile.” Drake knew Liam was dead wrong about that. Everything would change. “And from what I gather, it didn’t turn out to be such a bad night for you either. Why all the sand, though?”

Drake ran a hand through his hair, rubbing some of the sand out and realized it was probably leaving a mess in the fancy hotel room. “Riley took me to her favorite beach spot.”

“Sounds like more fun than another club. . . Hey, do you mind flying back with Maxwell tomorrow?”

“What? Why?”

“My father called to remind me of several meetings that I must attend earlier than we had planned on returning. Supposedly I’ll have to attend a few by teleconference in the air. And . . .”

“Let me guess, dear old Constatine doesn’t want me listening in?”

“Something like that.”

“You really expect me to spend 10 hours on a plane with Maxwell?”

“I think he was making a playlist . . . “

Drake groaned. He could tolerate Maxwell Beaumont in small doses only. “Fine, but if I don’t show up to your fancy masquerade party, you’ll know it’s because I threw myself off the plane.”

Liam laughed and headed toward the main bedroom, while Drake headed to take a shower, mentally reliving his time with Riley. For the first time in a very long time, he was sad to leave someone behind.

*****

The next day, Drake sat on the Beaumont jet waiting for Maxwell to show up. While he was grateful not to get up before 7:00 like Liam had to, at this rate they wouldn’t get back to Cordonia until the sun came up tomorrow. Maybe he could sleep through most of the flight and avoid the worst of Maxwell’s antics.

_ Drake: Are you coming or what? _

_ Maxwell: Had to make a detour, but we should be there soon. _

We? Was Tariq coming too? He thought he had left this morning for Paris. At least, he had said something about shopping for the social season. Drake could have sworn he said something about Paris. . .

_ Maxwell: You can get the party started without me though. Turn on the “Cordonia Forever” playlist. _

_ Drake: No. _

_ Maxwell: Well, the whiskey is on the lower shelf of the bar then. _

Drake tossed his phone to the side and made his way toward the plane’s bar. As annoying as Maxwell was, he always kept the drinks flowing, which made him slightly more tolerable. But if he was going to be on this plane for the next ten hours, he would need it. He peeked into the cockpit and saw the Beaumont’s pilot, Michael.

“Any chance we can head home and leave Maxwell in America?”

The pilot chuckled. “Sorry Drake, I don’t think Duke Ramsford would approve of me leaving his brother in a foreign country. Besides, we’ll be in the air in less than an hour. Lord Maxwell just called in the updated passenger manifest and said he was on his way.”

Drake peered over his shoulder at the report in his hand.

Maxwell Beaumont

Cassandra Levingsworth

Drake Walker

What. The. Fuck.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Even Maxwell could not be that reckless and. . . nevermind. He was definitely was that reckless and stupid. But why on earth would he bring the bloody waitress back to Cordonia? And what kind of woman not only takes off in the middle of the night with four strange men, but decides to get on a plane with them to a foreign country the next day? Is she reckless and stupid too?

Now he couldn’t even drink himself into blacking out Maxwell’s antics and risk looking like a slobbering drunk in front of her. Jesus! He drained his drink and poured another one, hoping to finish it before they got there. Drake settled into his seat and steeled himself for what was sure to be the longest flight of his life.

Ten minutes later, Maxwell and Cassie appeared in the cabin with big smiles.

“Drake!” Maxwell greeted buoyantly. “Look who’s coming back to Cordonia with us? She’s going to represent House Beaumont in the social season! Great idea, right? I’m like a genius. But the cool kind, right? Not the nerdy kind with science and stuff because I honestly don’t remember much about science from school.”

“Are you crazy, Maxwell?!”

“Maybe a little. But come on! You saw how much chemistry they had. I’ve never seen Liam so happy around anyone before.”

Drake’s eyes slid from the overexcited Maxwell to the overexcited woman next to him. Yep, it was Cassie the waitress. Apparently a friend and co-worker of Riley’s. She seemed somewhat less glamorous in the light of day than she had last night dressed up in a sparkly dress and a lot of make-up, but better than in that awful, unflattering waitress uniform. She was tiny, maybe just over five feet tall, and blonde with big brown eyes. Pretty, just, not his type. Just like Maxwell, she seemed to vibrate energy and excitement. She smiled at Drake, but he couldn’t bring himself to return it. She had no idea what she had just walked into. Maxwell was going to sponsor her? That meant that she would have to go toe to toe with people like Kiara and Olivia. Did Liam know about this?

Just then, there was a ding on Drake’s phone.

_ Riley: Your friend Liam is a fucking prince?!?! _

_ Drake: And your friend Cassie is coming to Cordonia. _

_ Riley: Ugh. Don’t remind me. I have to work alone today thanks to that bitch taking off with you guys. _

_ Drake: So, you know about the competition? _

_ Riley: Kinda. I was there when Maxwell was explaining it to her. It sounds stupid. Is it like a reality show? _

_ Drake: You’re not far off. She’s going to be eaten alive. Convince her to stay here. _

_ Riley: I tried. You can’t convince that one of anything once she decides. She’s more stubborn than I am. _

“Uh, Drake . . .”

Drake looked up to see Maxwell staring at him. “What?”

“You have to put your phone away for take-off,” Maxwell said with a goofy grin on his face.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Who were you texting? Liam? Please don’t tell him about Cassie yet.”

“No, not Liam. And fine, I won’t tell him.”

Maxwell cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Who then. . . oh my god, Drake! You’re texting the girl from the club! Is that where you went last night?! Did you really hook up with her two nights in a row?! You must really like her. Drake never keeps in contact with girls.” Maxwell explained that last part to Cassie. 

“You’re one to talk, Maxwell. And you know exactly why.”

“Still, you like her, right? I saw her today. Maybe I should have convinced her to come too. I can make the plane wait. Do you want her to come with us?”

Cassie giggled. “Are you talking about Riley? She’d never do something like this.”

“Exactly. Because she’s smart. Unlike some people,” Drake said pointedly. Cassie narrowed her eyes at him. He sent off one last text to Riley to say they were taking off. “Anyway, what are we waiting for? Let's go home.” Drake turned away from them and looked out the window.

Once they were in the air, Maxwell turned on the playlist, which sent an obnoxious beat pulsing through the plane. Cassie seemed delighted by this and the two of them sang and danced along to the music, in between chatting about the social season and the events they would be attending over the summer. Drake wanted nothing to do with any of it, so he settled in listening to his own music and scouring the Cordonian news and tabloids hoping nothing from their trip to New York had been leaked to the press.

Three hours later, Maxwell and Cassie were having a dance-off. Drake tried to figure out exactly what Liam had seen in this girl. From what he could tell, she was basically the female version of Maxwell. She was loud and excitable and kind of a lot.

An hour after the dance-off ended with each of them declaring the other the victor, they started making cocktails. All of them seemed brightly colored and downright unnatural. What on earth could you put in a drink to make it purple?

“Look Drake!” Maxwell said, bounding over to him. “These change colors! We have to have them at the Beaumont Bash this year!”

“What’s the Beaumont Bash?” Cassie asked, her eyes dancing in excitement.

“Only the best party of the year, hosted by yours truly. I think this year we’re getting acrobats to perform! It’s going to be epic! And you get to host it with us this year!”

They continued on that way as they flew over the Atlantic and the Mediterianian into the darkness. Eventually, both Maxwell and Cassie fell asleep. Drake, opened various apps on his phone, bored, but unable to sleep. Just as he had resolved to try and get some sleep, a notification popped up on his phone. It was a text from Riley, she had sent him a picture of the two of them at the beach. A selfie she had insisted upon. Drake had never been much of a picture person. He had a few photos he’d taken on his phone, but nothing in his life felt particularly significant and worth remembering, so he didn’t usually waste time memorializing it. He looked at the picture Riley had sent and felt a blush creep up on his cheeks. That had been worth remembering.

_ Drake: Great pic. Thanks. _

_ Riley: Are you there? I thought you’d still be in the air? _

_ Drake: Yeah. About two more hours. Private plane with wifi, so I can text. _

_ Riley: That’s a long flight. _

_ Drake: Yeah, well, apparently you could have been on it. Maxwell was all for going back to get you when he found out we were still talking. _

_ Riley: Funny. I just got off work. Tell Cassie she owes me big time for leaving me. _

_ Drake: They’re sleeping. I’ll have to wait to pass on your message. _

_ Riley: Can you call from a plane? _

_ Drake: Facetime I think. _

His phone lit up. Drake shook his head, unsure how in just two days this girl had taken over so much of his thoughts and time.

“Hey,” he said when her face appeared on the screen.

“Hi,” she said, somewhat shyly.

“You’ve broken all the one night stand rules now you know. You’re definitely not supposed to keep talking two days later.”

“Well, since all the rules have already been broken, I guess we can stay friends.”

“Looks like I don’t have a choice.”

“You could do worse. So, Cassie’s sleeping. I can’t even yell at her for leaving me here alone?”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to soon, she won’t stay long. I doubt she’ll even be here a week. The Cordonian court is not the fairytale place Maxwell makes it out to be.”

“And Liam is not the prince charming Cassie thinks he is?”

“Actually, he is, but that’s not the point.”

“What is the point?”

“She’s a lot more likely to run into evil witches than fairy godmothers.”

“I see. So, Liam is a prince. Maxwell said he was from a noble house. What does that make you?”

“Nothing. I’m a commoner.”

“Interesting.”

“It’s not actually.”

“So, you’re a commoner who’s friends with royalty? I was wondering how you fit in with the group. From the pictures Cassie sent, it didn’t seem like you had a lot in common with them.”

“I don’t fit in, and neither will she.”

“You seem pretty adamant about that. She might surprise you.”

“Or, what’s more likely, she’ll get hurt or Liam will.”

“Hmmmmmm, well maybe you can look out for her.”

“I’m not a babysitter.”

“Fair enough. Well . . . I should get to bed. We should talk again though.”

“I guess we’ll have to, since you’ve decided we’re going to be friends.”

“Goodnight Drake.”

“Goodnight Riley.”

Drake looked over at Maxwell and Cassie, still sound asleep. What was Maxwell thinking dragging an American waitress into Liam’s social season? Again he wondered what kind of woman would just up and leave her home and move to a foreign country on an hour’s notice to try and marry a prince she had known less than twenty-four hours. This whole thing was stupid and someone, probably Cassie and maybe Liam, was going to get hurt in the process. He let his irritation at Maxwell for bringing her grow and swirl around in his head. It got mixed with his frustration with Liam allowing Cassie to derail the one night of freedom they had been granted on the trip and his jealousy that while Cassie was coming to Cordonia with them, Riley was staying in New York and he’d probably never see her again. By the time he started seeing the sunlight stream across the tops of the clouds he had decided that he was thoroughly angry with all of them and he absolutely hated the pretty waitress. 

Soon, Maxwell and Cassie woke up as the sun rose over Cordonia, which was coming into view.

“Say goodbye to New York and hello to Cordonia!”

“I can’t believe this is actually happening. . .”

“Believe it. We’ll be landing soon, ready or not. And if you’re not ready, those ladies at court are going to eat you alive,” Drake added to the conversation.

“Yeesh, don’t scare her, Drake. You okay, Cassie?”

“Honestly, I’m terrified,” she said with a laugh.

“I knew it,” Drake said to Maxwell. “She’s not gonna last a week. It’s a waste of time bringing her here.”

“I don’t get why you’re being so grim about this. . .” Cassie said, rolling her eyes at him.

Her optimism reminded him of Savannah, which just fed into his irritation. Then he thought of the last commoner girl Liam had been taken with. It had lasted a whole three weeks before Constantine found out and had her family moved to another post in the far west end of Krona. 

Before that, there was Chelsea who had started out dating Drake. As soon as he brought her to the palace, not something he did often, Drake might as well have been invisible as she shamelessly chased after Liam. Regina had put a stop to that one. He never did find out what happened to her - he didn’t really care. She was also the last person he’d tried to have a relationship with. Since then it was strictly one night stands and never, ever at the palace. Until Riley.

“Look, no offense, but I’ve seen girls like you come and go. It never ends well. Not for you, not for Liam, not for the royal family.”

Maxwell must have picked up on Drake’s train of thought because he glared at Drake, “Cassie’s not some crown-chaser.”

“Drake, I’m different from those girls. Liam being a prince doesn’t matter at all to me.”

Drake snorted a laugh. “But I’m sure it doesn’t hurt. I’m sure you would have been just as likely to follow Maxwell across an ocean.”

Cassie shrugged. “Maybe I would have.”

Maxwell turned bright red at that comment and looked away. Uh-huh. So, maybe Liam wasn’t Maxwell’s only motivation in bringing her along. This was going to end in disaster.

Michael announced the plane’s descent and Drake wondered if maybe he didn’t have to hate Cassie. He could just dislike her some. And maybe make sure that she was alright now and then like Riley asked him to, especially when she meets Olivia.

“Hey look! You can see Cordonia out the window! Cassie, you won’t want to miss this!” Maxwell said cheerily

“That’s Cordonia? I feel like I'm flying straight into a Disney movie. This is so crazy!”

Nope, he could hate her. “If you burst into song, I’m jumping out of the plane.”

“Good thing I don’t sing then, wouldn’t want you hurting yourself. It is beautiful here though”

“It is, isn’t it,” Maxwell said, smiling at her. “Are you ready?”

“Ready to marry prince charming? You bet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Redoing Chapter 4 with a different MC flying back to Cordonia and Riley still in New York was an interesting exercise. It's kind of fun to play with the characters and their different reactions to the same circumstances.


	5. Back to Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a crazy weekend, Riley realizes that her life is not the one she would have envisioned for herself and takes steps to improve it. At work, Riley fills Daniel in on what happened over the weekend.

Riley’s phone started ringing at 4:30 in the morning. The first time, she ignored it. The second time, she actually sat up and looked at who on earth would call her so early.

Cassie.

“Cassie? What the hell?! It’s 4:30 in the morning!”

“Oops, I’m sorry Riley. I forgot about the time difference. Are you up though?”

“I am now, thanks to you.”

“You would not believe this place Riley. It’s amazing. I feel like I’m living a real life fairy tale. I’m staying at the palace. Like an actual royal palace. I’m being presented to the King at an actual royal ball. This is so crazy!”

Riley sighed sleepily. She never was one to believe much in fairy tales. “That sounds amazing Cassie. I’m happy for you.”

On the other end of the line, Cassie squealed so loud Riley had to pull the phone away from her ear.

“I take it that means you’re not regretting your decision to quit your job and head off to a foreign country on a moment's notice.”

“Oh, not even a little bit. Hold on, I’m sending you pictures of my room. It’s bigger than your whole apartment. Actually, I think my bathroom here is bigger than your apartment.”

“Do your parents know where you are?”

“. . . Not yet. I want to make sure it sticks before I tell them.”

“You don’t think you’ll stay?”

“I think I’m going to stay, but you never know right? I might change my mind. Although from what Maxwell says, I’ll never get bored. Tonight is the masquerade, but there are going to be so many events.”

“Has he told you how the competition is supposed to work yet?”

“I’m not sure exactly. I guess I just have to impress and charm everyone. And make Liam fall in love with me.”

“Sounds like you’ll do great then.” The whole, non-stop party atmosphere sounded right up Cassie’s alley. And she never struggled to charm people or make guys fall at her feet, but Drake had seemed so certain that she would fail miserably or be eaten alive by the other ladies at court.

Cassie sighed happily on the other end of the line.

“So, why exactly are you calling me at this god-awful hour?” Riley asked. “I don’t think it was only to gush about how great your room is. . . . Or did you just call to gush?”

“Oh, I have to go pick out a dress for the masquerade ball tonight and I need opinions of course.”

“Cassie, you know I suck as a fashion consultant. Whatever you pick out will be gorgeous. You could have called Danielle and had her wake up before dawn.”

“Well . . . Danielle’s not too happy with me right now. . . since I kind of left her without a roommate for the foreseeable future.”

“And you left me to work alone with Joe yesterday. What makes you think I’m happy with you? Or did Drake not tell you that I was pissed?”

“Please Riley? You’re the only one that gets what I’m doing here. Aaaaaand speaking of Drake, Maxwell almost ran back to the restaurant to convince you to come along when he found out that you two were still talking.”

“That’s hilarious.”

“Seriously though, you wouldn’t come back to the bar or to Kismet because it would be awkward, but you went to hang out with him again anyway?”

“He called  _ me _ ,” Riley protested, “because Liam was too busy with  _ you _ .”

“Riiiiiiiiight. Anyway, I’m going to send you my dress options and I want your opinion, ‘kay?”

Riley groaned. It was a little after five. If she got up to look at Cassie’s dresses, she might as well be up for the day and she had a closing shift at the bar that night. Maybe she could get an afternoon nap in.

“Fine. Send me your pics.”

Riley got up and made herself some coffee. She started googling everything she could find about Cordonia. She learned that Liam was actually the younger son and that his older brother Leo had abdicated his role as crown prince last year and married an American heiress. She looked at pictures from the previous social season when Leo had been crown prince and had selected a pretty blonde countess as future queen. Interesting that the timeline of the engagement, abdication, and whirlwind marriage to another woman happened in a remarkably short period of time. Apparently they don’t waste time in Cordonia.

Coffee and a general understanding of the Cordonian social season acquired, Riley started looking into more information about the group of men that had whisked Cassie away to their fairytale kingdom. There was almost nothing about Drake, only a few references to him being a friend of Prince Liam. Not that that surprised her given his taste for quieter places and simplicity and being a commoner amongst the nobility. Maxwell, on the other hand, seemed to be quite prominent on the Cordonian social scene. There were pages and pages of information about Cassie’s party-boy benefactor, his seemingly endless stream of flings, wild parties, and social media postings. Apparently he was the younger brother of a Duke and together they threw a huge party at their estate every year that was a who’s who of Cordonia event.

As for Liam, everything written about him seemed complimentary, but somewhat bland. Royal appearances, blah blah blah, new crown prince, blah blah blah, gala openings, blah blah blah. Everything was a carefully curated press release, almost nothing about the man himself or what he was like as a person. It seemed he was the responsible brother as there was plenty of press about Leo the partying prince.

Once she had scoured the blogs and gossip columns that focused on the social elements, she started diving into the history and politics, which provided fascinating reading.

Somewhere around six o’clock, texts with pictures from Cassie started coming in.

_ Cassie: What do you think? Angel or Devil? _

_ Riley: That depends. The angel one is giving me Claire Danes in Romeo and Juliet vibes or Drew Barrymore in Ever After. The devil one is more like something you would wear in New York. _

_ Cassie: I’m meeting a king and seducing a prince, which one would you pick? _

_ Also, this is my new BFF Hana. We met in the dressing room. _

Cassie sent a selfie of her and another girl. Leave it to Cassie to make a new friend in five minutes.

_ Riley: If you want to stand out, always go with the red dress. Besides, angel costume is apparently screaming angsty 90s period drama. _

_ Cassie: Yessssss! Knew you would know what to do! I’ll turn you into a fashionista yet. Gonna get ready with my new BFF and get all the gossip I can out of her. _

Riley laughed and went back to reading about Cordonia’s history, politics and culture. Apparently they were most well known for their apples. From what she could see in the pictures, it was a quaint, picturesque country that had remained relatively untouched by the upheaval of the 20th century. From what she could gather, it was in a bit of an uncomfortable place now in the era of the EU. They were one of a very small number of countries in Europe with an absolute monarchy still in place. In addition to their reigning monarch, the members of the nobility served essentially as governors of their provinces, er duchies, each headed by a Duke or Duchess with lesser nobles running counties or even cities. Apparently, their government had not changed since the early Middle Ages and there was now pressure for change from various groups.

All of this fascinated Riley and she began to ponder what would have happened if Maxwell had come to convince her to run off to Cordonia. Would she have gone? What place could an American like herself or like Cassie have there? She laughed at the idea of Cassie being a queen and helping to run a country. 

Riley and Cassie were friends, but the kind of casual friend you do shots with and set up on dates with other friends. Cassie had never demonstrated a lot of depth even though Riley knew she was big-hearted and generous. Her party girl persona was not an act. She liked to have fun and hated it when she felt other people were missing out on the party that is life. Her parents were from the east side and well-off. Her dad was some sort of corporate director for Chase and her mother worked as a producer on Good Morning America. While they weren’t famous, they knew famous people and that got them into some of the best parties and events in the city. They indulged Cassie by letting her get her own place in Brooklyn with Danielle and work a waitressing job, even though they were still funding her lifestyle. Cassie’s mother said that youth was for having fun and that Cassie would settle down and get serious eventually.

Despite her frivolous outer-appearances and penchant for putting too many letters in words over text, she was a decent writer and kept up a thriving fashion and lifestyle blog and pictagram presence that had a decent following and supplemented her income to a shocking degree. She had tried to get Riley to start up her own personal brand of lifestyle blog, but Riley always claimed she was too busy to keep up with it and terrible at fashion advice. 

_ “It’s not hard Riley, I will help you get started and then you just have to add content.” _

_ “Cassie, the only angle I could get on a fashion blog would be an ironic one. It would have to be Fashion Mistakes to Avoid by Riley Brooks.” _

_ “You could work that angle, though I don’t think you make any poor fashion choices, just boring ones. Ooooo, I know. You could do before and after. Like, this is what I would pick and then make a couple bolder changes and show people how to make their boring looks stand out more.” _

The memory of that conversation floated through her head after looking at the pictures Cassie was sending of her in the red devil dress, now with her hair done. Cassie had tons of friends and people better qualified to give opinions on dresses. Why was she asking Riley?

After a morning spent researching the country her latest fling was from and her work friend had run off to, Riley was depressed by the prospect of another night working at the same bar. It was Monday, so it would at least be fairly tame, but probably not very lucrative. The eight months she had spent in a relationship with Josh the Lying Bastard had dulled her into a sort of routine. Riley had never been in love with him, not really, but it felt safe and familiar and she assumed that at some point they’d get married, or at least move-in together, or something adults in long-term relationships do. The three months since then had been like sleeping through life. 

The events of the last couple days had been like an electric jolt bringing her back to life. Suddenly she felt wide awake and restless. Was this really how she wanted her life to be? Netflix and internet rabbit holes followed by a shitty job that barely covered her living expenses. Absolutely not. 

She chastised herself once again for spending all her mom’s life insurance money on her Columbia degree and not going to a more practical undergraduate school and saving for law school. Yet, as much as she felt more adrift than most of her ivy league friends who had almost all gone on to fancy graduate programs or high paying jobs, she knew that her teenage vision of turning into Elle Woods and dazzling everyone in the courtroom was just a fantasy and that actually being a lawyer wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.

Riley searched through her drawers for a notebook and a pen. Riley sat cross-legged on her bed with her notebook in front of her and her tablet open next to her. She started writing down things that she was actually good at and things that she enjoyed and comparing them to jobs posted on various job sites. Why had she spent the last three years waitressing? There were so many better things she could be doing. . .

By noon, Riley was in full research mode and had pages filled out in her notebook of possibilities. Her mind hummed in pleasure as she finally started envisioning a future for herself. At two o’clock, while in the midst of updating her resume, Riley had a breakthrough revelation. She immediately picked up the phone and searched her contact list. Ironically, the name she was searching for was listed just above her Aunt Sheila.

A well of emotion surged through Riley and tears started streaming down her face. Over the last three years, Aunt Sheila had nudged and encouraged Riley to go after her dreams and make the most of her life. At the time, Riley felt like she was somehow disappointing her beloved aunt who had seen her through the roughest years of her life. Now, she saw it differently. Life passed by far too quickly to waste it working jobs that were far below her potential just to scrape by. As soon as the tears came, they passed, and Riley imagined her Aunt Sheila encouraging her to go out and take New York by storm. 

Suddenly Riley remembered her closing shift at the bar that would last until two in the morning and the fact that she had already been up since 4:30. There wasn’t going to be much time for sleeping, but if she didn’t sleep at all, she probably wouldn’t make it through the night. Reluctantly, Riley put aside her notebook and set an alarm to wake her up in time to get to work. Even though there was a huge part of her that wanted to just quit her job and throw herself into her new ideas, that would probably be a terrible idea right now. She crashed into her bed, dreaming of better days to come.

*************

On her way to work, Riley got a barrage of texts from Cassie. Selfies of her looking gorgeous in the red devil dress and her stunning new friend Hana in a glittering pink ballgown with a butterfly themed mask. There was also a picture of Cassie and Maxwell with a very regal looking red and black damask jacket and gold mask. She wondered briefly if Drake was there and if he’d dressed up too. She had a hard time imagining him buying into the whole costume party idea.

As if on cue, Cassie texted her an update.

_ Cassie: I saw Drake tonight too, but didn’t have my phone at that point to take pictures. Not that he dressed up . . . _

_ Riley: Let me guess, he hung out in the corner drinking whiskey? _

_ Cassie: Pretty much. How did you know? We need to seriously talk about your judgement on that one. Anyway, going to bed, have fun at work without me! _

Riley sighed and put her phone away and walked in the back entrance of the bar.

“Hey Riley!” the cook, Miguel, called after her.

“Hi Miguel. Please tell me it’s been slow today.”

“It’s Monday.”

“Yep. It sure is.” Riley was glad for that. She had the day off on Tuesdays and she figured she would spend the day reaching out to her old contacts about job opportunities. With any luck, she wouldn’t have to put up with the waitressing gig much longer.

Riley threw her purse and change of clothes into her locker in the break room with one hand and twisted her dark hair up into a bun with the other. She grabbed an apron and deftly tied it around her waist. She walked up to the cash register screen and logged in for her shift. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel trying to sneak in without Joe seeing he was coming in late. She laughed softly to herself and clocked him in right after her. Daniel was late every day.

Two women walked in the door and took a seat on the far side next to the door. Riley recognized them and waved to the taller woman.

“The usual Andrea?” Riley called across the room.

“Yep. Thanks Riley!”

Riley spun around to place the order only to see Joe glaring at her. She groaned inwardly.

“Maybe it wasn’t clear in your training, but usually we take orders at the table rather than yelling them across the room, disturbing the other guests.”

Riley glanced around the room at the otherwise empty bar. It was after happy hour, but before the dinner rush. Riley turned to Joe and saluted him. “Sure thing boss.” Then she strode past him to the kitchen to give Miguel the order she already knew by heart. She didn’t stay to watch Joe turn purple with rage and shoot another sneer in her direction.

Daniel crept up behind Riley, “Hey, thanks for clocking me in,” he whispered. “Joe seems like he’s in a mood again.”

“Well, since Cassie quit with no notice, he’s been worse than usual.”

“What happened to Cassie anyway? I haven’t heard a word from her. She hasn’t even tried to get me to come out to a club.”

“Were you working with her on Saturday?”

“Yeah, but I skipped out early. She took over a bachelor party since I had a date.”

“Oooo, a date? Was he cute?”

“Not as cute as his profile pic.”

“No one is Daniel. No one is.”

“It was fine though. He was nice. Just . . . no spark there, you know?”

“I’m sorry.” Riley made the drinks at the bar and took them over to Andrea and Laine, who were still the only customers in the bar.

“But what about Cassie. I haven’t heard from her since I left that night.”

“Okay, you aren’t going to believe this . . . the bachelor from the bachelor party is actually the crown prince of Cordonia.”

“What, seriously?”

“Yeah. And he doesn’t actually have a fiancée yet. There’s some seriously fucked up competition back in his country for who gets to marry him. Like some bad reality show.”

“Like The Bachelor?”

“Exactly like The Bachelor, but without eliminations, I guess. So, anyway. . . that’s where Cassie went. She’s in Cordonia, competing to be a princess.”

Daniel stared at for a moment. Then he burst out laughing. “Wow Riley. It’s good to see that you got your sense of humor back.”

“Oh Daniel, I only wish I was joking.”

Daniel stopped laughing. “Wait, what?”

“As much as I would love for this to be some crazy story I made up to entertain you, that is . . . actually what’s happened in the last forty-eight hours. Here, check this out.”

“Order up!” Miguel called from the back. Riley quickly opened her phone to the pictures of Cassie and handed it to Daniel before running to the back to get the order.

When she got back to Daniel, he was staring gobsmacked at her phone. “She’s really in some European country going to a royal ball . . .”

“Insane, right?”

“Totally insane.”

“This guy she’s with in this picture is an actual prince?”

“No, no, no . . . that’s Maxwell. He’s a lord or something I think. His brother is a Duke, I know that much. He’s the one whose family is sponsoring her for the competition.”

“So . . . he’s still single then?”

“Daniel!”

“What? If Cassie can run off to a foreign country for a guy, why can’t I?”

“Sure, tell Cassie to put in a good word for you.” Riley went to check on her table, they were still the only patrons in the bar. Then she joined Daniel back near the bar.

“Who is the Drake person she was challenging your judgement on?”

Riley felt herself blush. She couldn’t believe that he still had that effect on her from four thousand miles away. Daniel raised his eyebrows at her. “Hey, I showed you pictures, I did not invite you to read my text messages,” Riley said.

“It was right under the pictures, I didn’t mean to. And don’t deflect.”

“Ugh, fine. Apparently he’s the prince’s best friend, but . . . not nobility I guess. Anyway, we met in a club on Friday, and . . . sort of . . . ended up back at my place.”

Daniel smirked at her. “Sort of?”

“Okay, fine . . . yes, we went back to my place and it was amazing. I didn’t know who he was or who his friends were then. But when he said he had to find a dive bar for them to go to the next night, I suggested this one. Anyway, he brought them here, Cassie was their waitress since you left early, she took them to Kismet, she ran off with prince Liam and I ended up meeting up with best friend Drake . . . again.”

“So, if you hooked up with this guy twice in one weekend, does that mean you’re finally over Josh and we get fun Riley back?”

Riley thought for a moment. For the first time in ages, she did feel like herself, but an even better version of herself. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“And . . . are there pictures of this Drake guy? Wait! I saw the bachelor party guys, was he the smoking hot one with the denim shirt? He was totally your type.”

Riley smiled and nodded. She showed Daniel the picture she’d made Drake take at the beach of the two of them together and the stealthy one she’d taken of him shirtless. She watched Daniel’s eyes go wide.

“Whoa,” he shook his head. “Wait, if the costume party guy is her sponsor, Maxwell, and the denim shirt guy was Drake . . . the prince was the other guy with the suit? He wasn’t bad looking, but not really Cassie’s type. Of the three of them I’d expect her to go for Maxwell.”

“I think Prince Liam came in later. He’s tall and blonde.” Riley pulled up some press pictures of Prince Liam that were more flattering than the one Cassie had taken from the kitchen that night. Daniel looked like he might actually have a heart attack.

“Oh . . . my . . . How did so much happen this weekend and I didn’t know about any of it?”

“The things you miss out on when you weasel your way out of work for a date.”

“Knew I shouldn’t have let Cassie take over that bachelor party. That could have been me, Riley!”

“Somehow I don’t think they’d let you into Who Wants to Be a Princess, Daniel.”

“Aw.”

That’s when Joe came out and barked at them to find some work to do.

“Wanna light some drinks on fire?” Riley asked

****************

It had been a slow night at the bar, which was one reason Riley hated working Mondays. The tips in her pocket did not make her confident about paying her bills for the rest of the month, which only made her want to get on with the job hunt even more. It was already 2:30 as she made her way back to her apartment and it made her realize that it was 8:30 in the morning in Cordonia. Maybe she should call Cassie and ask her how the ball had been.

Riley pulled out her phone to dial, but hesitated. She could call Cassie . . . or she could call Drake. It didn’t help that due to the lack of people she knew with names beginning with C or D that they came up near each other in her contacts. Her finger moved back and forth between them a few times, and then she hit call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might feel a little bit like a filler chapter, but it is an important step toward where things are going later in the series.


	6. Devil in Disguise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake reluctantly attends the Masquerade Ball. The two very different girls from New York present problems for Drake.

Drake arrived at the Masquerade Ball intentionally late and made himself at home in his favorite corner of the ballroom, close to the door, and in between chandeliers so that it was slightly in the shadows, sipping on whiskey and trying to size up the women who were now vying for Liam’s hand in marriage as if he were some prize on a game show. He noticed Olivia first, of course practically glued to Liam’s side. She had her bright red hair down in curls, the way she’d worn it as a teenager, instead of in her usual tight bun. Interesting. Lady Kiara and Lady Penelope were whispering together by the hors d'oeuvres. He tried to see if he could locate the new girl that had arrived from China before they left for New York, but instead was approached by a woman he didn’t recognize in a red dress and horns. Huh. Interesting costume choice.

It was too late to duck out of the ballroom, so he supposed he could put up with whatever the noblewoman wanted. She probably wanted to send him on an errand, thinking he was part of the staff or something.

He gave his best impression of Liam, bowing a bit, “Good evening my lady.”

“What? No costume? Is this a party or not?” a distinctly American accent declared. Holy hell! The waitress, er, Cassie. He had to stop calling her ‘the waitress’.

“ . . . Cassie?” Well, if she wanted to make an impression on the court in Cordonia, that would do it, although he wasn’t sure if it would be the right one.

“Yeah. You didn’t recognize me?”

“I hardly recognize anyone with these masks on,” he lied. Why did she come over here? Shouldn’t she be lining up to greet Liam and his dad? Or mingling with important people? Or dancing with Maxwell . . . . wait, where was Maxwell? Had he left her alone at this big fancy ball where she didn’t know anyone?

“Well, I’m glad I blend in then.”

“Uh, no. Looking the part doesn’t mean you’re going to be welcome here, you know.”

Her face hardened and he sort of regretted his comment. “Well, you’re as charming as ever.”

“Hah. Compared to most of the nobles here, I’m your best friend.” It’s better if she’s on guard, even if she isn’t happy about it.

“Drake, everyone here’s been perfectly nice..”

“Sure, to your face. You don’t want to know what they’re probably saying about you behind your back.”

She frowned and rolled her eyes, “Please. Bitches have been talking about me behind my back since second grade. Besides, how can you say that? Aren’t they your friends too?”

“I’m friends with Prince Liam. I’m not here for the rest of them.”

“Not even Maxwell?”

“Especially not Maxwell.”

“He’s the one sponsoring me. . .”

“Look, you don’t know him like I do. You don’t know any of them like I do.”

“So what’s wrong with Maxwell then? I thought you were friends.”

“Friends is a strong word.”

“Must be why you don’t have many.”

“True.”

“Damn, what did Riley see in you?”

Drake felt heat rise on his face at Riley’s name. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“So you do have a weakness.”

“What do you mean?”

Cassie smirked at him. “Oh you know. You try to keep up this ‘I’m a mysterious, sarcastic, lone wolf’ act, but one mention of her name and you’re blushing like a twelve year old.”

Drake frowned. “Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, she wasn’t the one crazy enough to fly halfway across the world for a guy she just met and trying to fit in where she doesn’t belong.”

Cassie scowled at him furiously.

“Look, I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m just trying to help.”

“Well then try harder,” she said.

“I’m just saying the things that I wish someone would’ve told me a long time ago.”

Cassie squared herself off with him and pulled herself up to her whole five foot nothing height.

“Ahem! Pardon me, but I absolutely must steal her away,” a voice said from behind Cassie.

As if on cue, the red she-devil herself walked up and slipped an arm into one of Cassie's and whisked her away. If Cassie didn’t believe him before, she would after an encounter with Olivia. He watched the conversation from his corner and saw Maxwell swoop in to save a startled looking Cassie. That was unfortunate. He was hoping Olivia would scare her into going home. Plus, it would have been hilarious to watch them get into a fight in the middle of the ballroom. These events were far too boring. Maxwell tugged her in the direction of Liam and the King.

Drake wondered if Liam even knew she was here yet. Maxwell wanted to surprise him . . . Drake made his way back toward the bar with his eyes still on Cassie. She seemed to have pulled off a decent curtsy to King Constantine. Well, maybe she wouldn’t get thrown out of the palace tonight after all. Drake knew that even Constantine and Regina wouldn’t just throw out House Beaumont’s suitor, even if she was a commoner. They would just make her uncomfortable enough to want to leave on her own. Would Liam even worry about that? He was always so quick to see the good in people, especially his father for some reason.

Drake watched Cassie make her way up to Liam. Liam seemed more intrigued than pleased, though it was hard to tell with the mask on. Heh. So, he hadn’t recognized her either. Then he saw Liam break out in a wide grin. There it is. And apparently he’s really happy she’s here. Seriously Liam? Drake watched Liam’s body language change as he relaxed and leaned in toward Cassie. Maxwell was right, Liam did look happier around her than anyone Drake had ever seen him with. If she was Cordonian, she might have stood a chance. Drake made his way over to the bar as Maxwell whisked Cassie off to meet the other ladies.

This girl has about a zero percent chance of making it through the social season and becoming queen. Did Liam really want to see her humiliated? If she was smart, she would head back to New York tonight. Drake didn’t see that happening though. She seemed like the stubborn type. All of his attempts to warn her up to now only seemed to fuel her desire to prove him wrong. He finished his drink and walked outside for some air. He thought about calling Riley and trying to get her to convince Cassie to go home where she belonged. That was a perfectly normal reason to want to call her, right?

On hearing Olivia’s voice, Drake turned on his heel to go in literally any other direction. She was berating the other new lady at court. The pretty Asian girl he’d been looking around for earlier - Anna? Emma? That one was even less likely to last the week than Riley. She seemed way too shy and sensitive. A moment later, Lady Hana(!), yeah that was it, rushed past him without even seeing him. Drake was almost tempted to follow her, but telling off Olivia would probably be more fun than trying to comfort a crying woman. If his conversations with Cassie were any indication, he probably wouldn’t be very comforting anyway.

Just as he was about to step into view and lay into Olivia, he heard Cassie’s voice, clearly angry.

“You’re a real bitch.”

“Damn right I am.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“It all depends on your perspective, my dear.”

“I’m going after Hana.”

“By all means. Why don’t you help her pack?”

Drake didn’t want to get into an argument with Olivia, so he turned to head back to the ballroom to catch Liam. When he got back inside, Liam was deep in conversation with one of the noblemen Drake had seen around a bit last social season. Probably not the best time to interject unless he wanted to get roped into an uncomfortable conversation about estate taxes or something else Drake didn’t know anything about. He grabbed another whiskey from the bar and went back to his corner. He pulled out his phone and started scanning again for leaks about the bachelor party. So far, so good on the “keep Liam’s image squeaky clean” front. He checked the schedule for tomorrow: the Derby and a picnic. Alright! That actually sounded like a decent day. He started checking stats on the Derby horses. He’d been hearing good things about a few of them, but the numbers never lie. He looked up and saw Liam give him the SOS look. That was his cue.

Drake crossed the room quickly and made an excuse to the nobleman that Liam was still talking to.

“Sorry, my lord, I need to speak with his highness about arrangements for the horses to travel tomorrow.”

The nobleman Liam had been talking to was a good four inches shorter than Drake and still managed to look down his nose at him. “Of course,” the pompous ass said before striding away.

“Thanks,” Liam said with a relieved sigh.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“Why didn’t you tell me Cassie was here?”

“Maxwell asked me not to tell you.”

“Well, it made for a pleasant surprise.”

“You’re  _ happy _ Maxwell dragged her here?”

“Of course! She’s . . . she’s . . . I know it’s corny, and far too early to make any decisions, but she really could be the one Drake.”

“The one? Liam. She’s an American waitress who for some reason isn’t smart enough to think that getting on a plane with some guys she just met and flying half way around the world probably isn’t a great plan. Olivia already has it out for her and she’ll end up getting hurt, or hurting you, or Maxwell. I mean, I’m sure Bertrand is totally on board with someone like her representing the great Beaumont name.”

“So, you don’t like her . . .”

“Not really, but . . . I don’t . . . even know her. And neither do you. Plus, she’s like a female Maxwell. It’s all dance-offs, laughing too loudly, and brightly colored cocktails.”

“Alright, alright Drake. I’m not proposing tonight. And I’m glad she gets along with Maxwell, she needs friends here. It’s just, she’s . . . different from the other ladies.”

“Right. That’s what I’m saying. She’s different because she doesn’t belong here. She doesn’t know anything about Cordonia, or politics, or royal protocols. She’s basically a scandal waiting to happen. Best case scenario, she ends up getting hurt and running away like Savannah.”

Liam’s face turned firm and authoritative. It was the ‘prince face,’ ugh. “Drake. I’m sorry about what happened to Savannah, but there’s no reason to assume the same thing will happen to Cassie.” Liam ran a hand through his hair and relaxed just a tiny bit. “I guess we’ll see how it all plays out. But, I am happy she’s here and I do like her, so at least  _ try _ to be nice to her. And since you mentioned it, would you mind looking out for her? She has Maxwell, but, ah . . .”

“What is with everyone wanting to turn me into a babysitter? If she can’t handle herself, she shouldn’t be here at all.”

“Drake . . .”

“Fine. You know I’ll do whatever you ask. Riley already asked me to look out for her anyway. Just don’t cry to me when this all crashes and burns.”

Liam’s eyes went wide. “Riley? You’re still talking to your New York girl?”

Drake shrugged and tried to look away.

“And they know each other?”

“Riley works with Cassie at the bar where we met her. I guess that’s why she suggested it.”

Liam chuckled. “Never thought I’d see the day . . . You might want to make your exit, I see Penelope coming this way.”

“Oh god, poodle girl? Yeah, I’m heading out. See you in the morning.”

Drake disappeared into the crowd before Liam could respond. He liked dogs and all, but did NOT want to get trapped in a conversation about Lady Penelope’s poodles. He had made that mistake once when he was fourteen and thought she had pretty eyes. He made his way to the edges of the room and back to a table to drop off his empty glass when he saw Cassie and Hana enter the room. Hana wasn’t crying anymore and was smiling some. Maybe Olivia hadn’t upset her as much as he had thought.

Drake saw Maxwell guide Cassie over to Liam and Liam sweep her into a dance. He was surprised she knew how to waltz. He’d lived here since he was four and still didn’t know how to waltz. A moment later, Liam was dancing her out of the ballroom to the balcony. Drake rolled his eyes.  _ That _ was a move Liam reserved only for the women he really did like. What the fuck Liam? The one? He didn’t even know this woman. Speaking of . . .

Drake made his way out of the ballroom and back to his own quarters. He was sure Bastien was already making up a dossier on her, but it wouldn’t hurt if Drake started his own research. He pulled out his phone and started with google. Of course, he could skip the googling and ask the one person he knew would already have some information. Drake drummed his fingers on the back of his phone, considering how easy it would be to call . . .

Back in his room, Drake stared at his phone, frozen in indecision. He  _ wanted _ to call Riley. Why did he want to call Riley? She was just a girl . . . there were lots of girls. Ones that didn’t live thousands of miles away. She was a super hot girl that drank whiskey and preferred a quiet beach to a loud club, who gave him a run for his money in snarkiness, and kept him guessing what she would do next. That wasn’t even taking into account the electrifying and mind-blowing sex. God, she was unbelievable! And that was when she was practically a stranger, now that he cared about her . . .

Whoa! Drake froze at the thought. He  _ cared _ about her? What? Why? When did that happen. He still hadn’t even known her a week! Just because they had a good time together in New York and talked on the phone once didn’t mean anything.

Even so. She was in New York. It wasn’t likely he’d ever see her again and therefore, probably not healthy to keep thinking about her. What was wrong with him? He never let girls get in his head this way. He didn’t do feelings or relationships or anything like that. Not anymore.

Drake went back to googling Cassie. The girl had an extensive social media presence. . . and a fashion blog. Huh. She might actually do alright with the press, but she clearly didn’t hide anything about her live-for-the-moment lifestyle either and that could be used against her.

He looked at the time. It was afternoon in New York. Would Riley be at work? He didn’t want to bother her at work. He could just text her to call when it was convenient, then it would be on her terms if she wanted to talk to him. 

With a frustrated growl, he went back to Cassie’s Pictagram profiles. She seemed to have a professional one and a personal one. The professional one seemed to be an extension of her blog. Lots of the same pictures, lots of exclamation points and directing people back to her website. The personal one seemed to have more fodder for anyone trying to make a case that she wouldn’t be a suitable princess. This woman was seriously the female version of Maxwell. Parties. Clubs. Selfies. Pictures of brightly colored cocktails and fancy meals. Pictures of her with many, many different people. 

Drake’s eyes were drawn to a post from Friday night. Cassie and Riley standing outside a club. Cassie in a tight silver dress and heavy make-up. Riley . . . looking exactly as he’d first seen her. Her long, dark hair fell in waves around her shoulders. Her green dress, that he’d later taken off her and tossed on the floor, showed off her gorgeous legs and her deliciously kissable neck. She was smiling in the picture, but not like he’d seen her smile the next day. There was something missing, something sad behind her eyes. He remembered that she’d said it had been a hard year. At the time he’d blown it off because she seemed so vibrant and full of life. It couldn’t have been that bad, right? But here, in this picture taken maybe an hour before they met, he could see it.

Of course, it would be fine to call her. She said they could still be friends. Did he want to be friends with a woman that lived on the other side of the world? If he was being honest with himself, he’d have a hard time thinking of her as just a friend. Even just looking at a picture of her was magnetic, drawing him in.

Focus!

He tried one more time to gather information about Cassie, but soon found himself on Riley’s social media pages instead. He wouldn’t have found them without Cassie tagging her in several posts since Riley kept them fairly anonymous, obviously only wanting people she knew to have access to them. Totally the opposite approach from Cassie, who had thousands of followers and seemed to post about every five minutes. It was getting late and Drake’s mind was not on getting any work done, so he went to bed, replaying his time with Riley in his mind.

***************

“Are you looking forward to the derby?” Drake asked Liam. They were sitting in their usual spot in one of the royal parlor rooms, eating breakfast.

“It’s a beautiful day and I won’t have to sit next to Regina, so, yes.”

Drake chuckled. Liam didn’t dislike Regina, but he absolutely hated having to sit next to her at events and make small talk.

“Private tent?”

“Yes. Right near the finish line. By the way, here’s your pass,” Liam said, sliding a card on a lanyard toward him.

“Nice. Thanks!”

“Of course. How are we supposed to place our bets otherwise?”

“You know, you don’t have to place a bet as an excuse to work-out. I’m sure you can schedule that on your own time.”

“Very funny. What makes you so sure you’ll win?”

“History is on my side.”

“Just because you’ve won every derby bet for the last twelve years doesn’t mean you’ll win today.”

“No, but I like my odds.”

Just then, Drake’s phone rang. That was unusual. He checked the caller ID. It was Riley. He glanced at Liam, who was looking at him with curiosity. “I need to take this,” he said, standing to leave. Liam nodded without asking any questions.

“Riley?”

“Hey Walker.”

“You’re going to use that information to your advantage, are you?”

“It suits you.”

Aaaaaaand he was blushing again. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting like a teenager with a crush every time he talked to her?

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this conversation? Isn’t it the middle of the night there.”

“It is. I just got off work. I’m walking home.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“I work in a bar. We’re open late.”

“Heh. I guess that’s true. . . . I’m glad you called.” He squeezed his eyes shut tight. This was a bad idea. He should not keep talking to her.

“Are you now?” she purred. 

No. No. Nope. He did not need to hear the sexy, come hither voice. It just reminded him that she was a huge distraction and that obsessing over her would not help him help Liam through his social season.

“Yeah, I, uh . . . I need to ask you about Cassie.”

“Oh.” Her voice was flat and hurt.

“Not that . . . I mean, I . . .I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How did you mean it?”

“I don’t know . . . I’m not good at this.”

“Talking?”

“Right . . . that.”

“But you still want to use me to dig up info on Cassie.”

“No. You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m sorry I even brought it up.”

“Okay. Did you have fun at the Masquerade?”

“No, but today should be better. It’s one of my favorite events, the derby.”

Riley yawned on the other end of the line. “Sounds fun. Wish I could see it.”

Drake’s stomach was turning in somersaults. What would it be like if she were here with him?

“I could . . . show you, later . . . but you’ll probably be sleeping.”

“How about this, we talk later and I will answer three questions about Cassie, if I can. It’s actually pretty late and I haven’t slept much in the last twenty-four hours. I actually just called because . . . because . . .”

Riley got quiet on the other end of the line.

“I really am glad you called Riley. Are you home?”

“Yes.”

“Then get some rest and call me later.”

“Okay,” she said, yawning. “Goodnight Walker.”

He smiled to himself, “Goodnight Riley.”

After the call ended, Drake ran a hand through and exhaled heavily. He was in trouble.


	7. Reconnecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley reaches out to an old friend and Cassie updates her on what's been happening in Cordonia.

Riley slept late on Tuesday. It was after noon by the time she dragged herself out of her bed and made herself some coffee. She pulled out the notebook she’d started filling up yesterday. Riley flipped to the last page and found the name she’d circled at the bottom. Shannon Keene. 

Riley hadn’t talked to Shannon since they’d graduated from Columbia three years before, but from what she knew, Shannon had gotten very involved in the political scene in New York City and had the connections to get Riley in front of the people she wanted to get in front of.

Riley hesitated for a moment. It was going to be painfully obvious that she wanted something after not calling for three years. But what was the point of her ivy league degree if she didn’t use it for networking. What was she even asking for? A job, but doing what exactly. Riley was going to need to be specific. She scrolled to Shannon’s name and called.

“You have 10 seconds to prove this is Riley Brooks or I’m hanging up.”

“Shannon! It’s Riley, no need to send out the FBI to investigate.”

“Shut up. Where have you been? I feel like you disappeared after graduation. Are you still in New York?”

“Yes, I’m still here. I guess I cut myself off from everyone for awhile.”

“I’ll say. So, what’s up? I don’t believe you just randomly decided to call me after three years.”

“I’m sorry Shannon, I’m a terrible friend.”

“Yep, we’ve established that. Hey, I only have about ten minutes left in my lunch break before I’m due in a meeting. Can we get drinks tonight and you can fill me in on life? Around 6:30?”

“That sounds great. Text me the address.”

“I will. Hey Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s really good to hear from you. I’m glad you didn’t just disappear.”

Riley smiled to herself. She’d been afraid to talk to her college friends for so long. Afraid that she would be an embarrassment or that she couldn’t keep up with them anymore, but it was really good to talk to someone from that part of her life. “Yeah Shannon, you too. I’ll see you tonight!”

Riley put the phone down, feeling confident that Shannon would actually try to help her. They had been the only two poly sci majors in Theta and had spent many hours studying together for classes. Shannon had been her LSAT study partner too, making sure that she didn’t completely ignore her social life her senior year while Riley buried herself in pre-law books. 

She pulled her resumé back up and realized there wasn’t much to add to it. After mentally kicking herself for not doing anything in her field for the last three years, Riley knew she was going to have to build something from the ground up and rely on her connections to help get her foot in the door. At least it had only been three years and not ten!

A close examination of her closet revealed that Riley had nothing to wear at either tonight’s meet-up with Shannon or at any potential job that she wanted. It looked like today was going to be a shopping day. Unfortunately, her shopping partner was off galavanting around Europe. It was only about 6:30 in Cordonia, maybe she should call Cassie to get advice. She picked up the phone and called her.

“Riiiiiiiiiley! I’m so glad you called!” There seemed to be an explosion of excitement on the other end of the line. “There is so much I have to tell you about!”

“That’s awesome. How was the masquerade?”

“Oh that’s right! I haven’t talked to you since before the Masquerade! It was incredible. Everyone was wearing these amazing dresses and masks. Did you see the pictures I sent you?”

“Yes, of course. You looked gorgeous. Did the prince recognize you?”

Cassie giggled on the other line. “Not at first. But . . . I think he was pretty happy to see me once he figured out who I was. We danced out onto the balcony, just like that scene in Cinderella. He’s amazing Riley. Seriously.”

“So amazing that you might actually marry him?”

“I know it sounds absolutely crazy Riley, but yes, he’s that amazing. He’s so thoughtful and kind and gentle. Plus, not bad to look at.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one.”

“Oh, then we met out for a walk through this hedge maze they have at the palace and we kissed again under the fairy lights. It was magical. Oh and we played tag.”

“A grown woman and a prince played tag in a hedge maze wearing fancy clothes? Sounds like something out of a romcom. I would have loved to see that.”

“Yeah, I guess he and Drake used to play tag there as kids all the time, so I just went with it. Liam never really gets to relax, so I thought it would be fun.”

Hearing Drake’s name made Riley’s heart beat faster. She was jealous that Cassie got to see him everyday instead of the brief phone and text conversations she’d had with him since he left. It did remind her that she’d told him they would talk later when she’d called in the middle of the night at the end of her shift. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that conversation. He’d sounded happy to hear from her, but wanted info on Cassie. Maybe she was just kidding herself that there was something there worth exploring.

“Speaking of Drake,” Riley said, trying not to let her voice betray the giddiness she felt every time his name was mentioned, “why are you questioning my judgement about him?”

“You know he’s a total asshole most of the time, right?”

“Oh please. He’s just a big marshmallow once you get past the gruff exterior. Except when he changed my drink order, that was kind of a dick move.”

“He did what?”

“Yeah, that’s how we met. I ordered a shot of whatever cheap whiskey they had at the bar because I just needed to get drunk fast in order to have a good time at that club. Drake was sitting next to me and told the bartender to give me a glass of good whiskey instead.”

“Well, that sounds about right. I don’t think I’ve seen him drink anything else. Look, I know he has that tall, gorgeous, mysterious, brooding thing going on that you like, and he  _ did _ save me from a horse today, but most of the time he’s all doom and gloom and telling me how awful it is here and how I should just go home. He seems to think I don’t have a chance with Liam and that all the people here are horrible. He even said I can’t trust Maxwell, when Maxwell is just the best.”

“Sounds to me like he’s trying to help you. That doesn’t make him an asshole.”

“His way of helping isn’t very helpful. Anyway, the masquerade was wonderful and the whole thing was just like a fairy tale, handsome prince included.”

“That’s awesome Cassie, but you know fairy tales aren’t real. And even if they were, there’s a whole lot of mortal peril involved before the happily ever after part.”

“Well, so far, no mortal peril. Just your boyfriend being a killjoy-“

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Whatever, that’s why he blushes every time your name gets mentioned?”

“He does?”

“Uh huh. And I can’t  _ see _ you blushing, but I can hear it in your voice. You two are adorable!”

“Okay, don’t get overexcited. It’s not like anything can actually happen.”

“Hmmmm. We’ll have to fix that. Anyway, no mortal peril. Just Drake and Bertrand sucking all the joy out of life.”

“Who’s Bertrand?”

“Maxwell’s stuck-up brother who doesn’t think I’m good enough-“

“The Duke guy?”

“Yeah. He yelled at me for not addressing him as His Grace, Duke Ramsford. How’d you know?”

“I did research for you.”

“Of course you did. Anyway, yeah, Bertrand is a real ray of sunshine. He’s worse than Drake. All his negativity is directed at  _ me _ ! Like I can’t figure this whole thing out or something.”

“Well, if he thinks you’re the problem, I’m sure you’ll win him over. You always do.”

“I’m gonna try, at least. Oh, and then there was the bitch at the Masquerade that tried to get me to kiss the king’s shoe.”

“What? Why would you do that?”

“I think she’s threatened by me. Too bad for her New Yorkers aren’t that gullible.”

“Seriously! I can’t believe she thought you’d buy that.”

“But so far everyone  _ else _ has been really nice and sweet and fun.”

“Alright, I’ll suspend my cynicism . . . for now.”

“I didn’t even get to tell you about today!”

“Oh? What happened today?”

“We went to the derby and I almost got trampled by a horse.”

“Is this when Drake saved you?”

“Yeah. Seems like he’s really good with horses. But then he turned into a jerk again right after he saved me from the horse and wouldn’t tell me where he and Liam were hanging out, so I had to join the other ladies that all want to marry Liam. It’s seriously so weird hanging out with a bunch of women all trying to marry the guy you like.”

“Yes. Very weird. The whole thing is fucked up, Cassie.”

“I know, but I really do think Liam will pick me.”

“Why’s that?”

“He likes me. We played croquet today at the derby picnic and he picked me to be his partner. I’m the only one he took for alone time at the masquerade,  _ twice _ . Even Maxwell says that he thinks Liam and I have a special connection and they’ve been friends since they were little kids. That all has to mean something, right?”

“ _ Do _ you have a special connection?”

“I think so. It’s just . . . it’s not like he can just sweep me off my feet. So it’s a little confusing.”

“Cassie . . . do you want him to pick you? He’s looking for a wife, not a girlfriend. And you’d eventually be a queen. You’d have to help actually run a country. Is that really what you want?”

Cassie was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. “I hadn’t really thought about it like that. But I think I could do it. It seems like Queen Regina mostly hosts events and things like that. I don’t think she gets involved in tax policies or whatever. Anyway, the Queen thing wouldn’t be for a long time. His dad’s only like sixty or so. There’s time to figure it all out.”

“If you say so.”

“So how’s New York?”

Riley laughed. “The same as it always is. I did call for fashion advice though.”

“Ooooo! Really? That’s exciting? Why?”

“I decided I’m tired of being a waitress and want to actually do something with my life. I’m meeting with a friend from college for drinks tonight and she can definitely introduce me to the right people in the political world, if I make a good impression.”

“Tricky. So, you need something that says, ‘I’m serious about work,’ but also ‘I’m fun and ready for a night out.’”

“Basically.”

“Little black dress. No cleavage. Heels. Chunky necklace. OR! Better idea. Black shorts with a really cute top. Here I’ll send you links to a pinterest board.”

“Thanks Cassie, I owe you.”

“Nah, we’re just even after I took off. Are you really quitting the bar though?”

“Not until I have a sure thing lined up. I still have to pay the bills and not all of us have rich parents.”

“And you really want to get into politics? Bleh.”

“That  _ is _ what my degree is in . . .”

“Alright Miss Ivy League. Go get a job! I have to get ready anyway, we’re going out to a club tonight. I even convinced Liam to sneak out.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me, Liam, Maxwell, Hana, and Drake.”

“Drake’s going? He hates clubs.”

“You’re not kidding. I think his exact words were, ‘Nope, not happening, never.’ Then Liam reminded him about skipping out on the bachelor party with you and he said something like, ‘The things I do for you people,’ and agreed to come.”

“Well, then I will let you go get ready. Thanks for the fashion advice.”

“Anytime!”

After hanging up the phone, Riley became curious about how Cassie was being received in Cordonia. What would the press make of an American waitress and fashion blogger in the running to be their queen? A quick google search revealed several Cordonian news sources she decided to follow. Their primary news network seemed to be the Cordonia Broadcasting Center. They already had a story posted about the derby and the ladies in contention for the crown including video. 

Riley clicked the video to reveal a man standing in front of a red carpet.

“Donald Brine here at the Royal Derby, the outdoor event of the season and our first chance to get to know the ladies of the court in contention to wed Prince Liam and become the future queen of Cordonia. I’m here now with Duchess Olivia Nevrakis of Lythikos. You’re looking lovely, Your Grace.”

“Thank you Donnie. I’m so glad to be here today,” a striking young woman with bright red hair said.

“Can you tell us why you’ve decided to join the suitor competition this year? You were noticeably absent from last year’s events.”

“I care about Prince Liam very much and we have had a special connection since we were children. I want to be here to support him in any way I can.”

“And of course, you’re hoping he’ll choose you to be his bride?”

The redhead blushed lightly. “I believe we’d be very happy together, yes.”

“And if you were to become Queen, what would happen to Lythikos?”

“I will never stop serving the people of Lythikos even if my role changes.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Hmm. She was beautiful and polished, but didn’t come off as particularly genuine. Except when she blushed. That seemed real. Apparently the red-headed duchess actually liked Prince Liam. But she was never going to win over the people with that level of fakeness.

“We’ve been hearing about a new lady on the social scene being sponsored by House Beaumont. I believe this is her now.”

Cassie appeared on the screen in a trendy looking dress and hat. Riley recognized the dress as one she’d modeled for some designer’s spring collection.

“What’s your name?”

“Lady Cassandra Levingsworth from House Beaumont, but my friends call me Cassie,” she answered with a megawatt smile. Cute, charming, the press was going to love her.

“What can you tell us about yourself?”

“I’m the only American among all these European noble ladies.”

“Do you think that affects your chances against the other ladies?”

Cassie flashed a coy smile at the camera, “Love knows no borders.”

“Fascinating. I’ve heard early rumors that you’re Prince Liam’s favorite. What do you think makes you stand out?”

“I share his love of the Statue of Liberty and the freedom she represents.”

“A true American girl.”

Okay. Cassie had done alright. She was certainly her usual, charming self that people were so drawn to. Riley wasn’t sure how important it would be that Cassie had firmly positioned herself as an outsider in Cordonia. She’d also clearly indicated that if she was chosen, it would be for love and people did root for a good love story. But who’s opinion was going to matter the most?

The reporter moved on to the next lady and Riley watched as Lady Hana, Cassie’s new friend charmed her way through the interview with a sweet smile. Her problem seemed to be similar to the red-head. She was polished and poised, she said all the right things, but there was something missing. 

There was also a Lady Kiara, who spoke in French for half the interview, and a Lady Penelope, who seemed to struggle with the questions. The sweet brunette girl looked like she would rather run away than stand there answering press questions. Riley wondered why a girl like that would enter the running to become a very public figure in the first place. Although . . . it did give Riley an idea for her meeting later with Shannon. She bookmarked the interview and got ready for her shopping trip.

******

Sitting on the F train riding toward midtown, Riley pulled out her phone to examine the pinterest board Cassie had sent her a link to. Once she had a mental picture of the kinds of things she would look for in the store, she switched to messages, deciding to text Drake.

_ Riley: I hear you’re off clubbing again. _

_ Drake: Don’t remind me. _

_ Riley: Well, if you’re back before midnight, get a bottle of whiskey and call me. _

_ Drake: Why with a bottle of whiskey? _

_ Riley: So we can drink together of course. _

_ Drake: No ‘get-out-of-clubs-free card’ this time. _

_ Riley: Sorry, you already used it up. _

_ Drake: Call you later then. _

Riley sighed to herself. What was she doing? Long distance relationships were stupid and never worked out. They especially didn’t work out with one night stands from another country! She didn’t even know if he wanted a relationship, much less one that came with a six hour time difference and not being able to see each other. They had walked into this with a very clear understanding that it was a one time thing . . . but what was it now? She’d told him they could stay friends and he seemed to . . . agree . . . sort of . . . maybe. Being friends seemed a lot more doable.

Finally her subway stop came up and Riley pushed her way through the crowd and stepped out into the busy streets of Manhattan. Whatever was going on with her and Drake, it would have to wait until she found the perfect meet-an-old-friend-for-drinks-and-ask-for-a-job outfit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short, but it's actually longer than its parallel chapter in Written in the Stars. This chapter drops some pretty big hints about how Riley will eventually end up connecting with the Cordonians again, though that's still a ways off.


End file.
